A Coroner has joined the State Pathologist in issuing a stark warning about the dangers of binge drinking after a 19 year old man, who wasn’t a regular user of alcohol, died after having cocktails, shots and beer with his friends.
State Pathologist Dr Margaret Bolster gave evidence in relation to the cause of death of the young man at an inquest in Cork city today.
The man, who is a native of Co Cork, passed away in the presence of his loved ones at Cork University Hospital (CUH) on September 16th, 2022.
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The inquest heard that the man had gone to a sports club with a few male friends on September 12th, 2022. They all had two or three beers.
The small group then went to a fast food drive thru at about 11.30pm and ate chicken nuggets in the car park before going back to one of their homes. They had a few cocktails and did shots during a card came called 21.
One friend gave evidence that “whoever went bust” in the game had to take a shot. The shots were of baby Guinness, whiskey and vodka apple sours.
When they noticed that one friend had become quite drunk after going bust a few times they put him to bed on his side. They rushed him to hospital by car the following morning when they realised he was having difficulty breathing. Poignantly, two girls who had joined the boys in the house that night went to light a candle for their friend after he was transferred to hospital.
Dr Bolster noted that the group of friends had said in evidence that the deceased was snoring heavily in the hours before his breathing became faint. However, he wasn’t vomiting and there was no sign of medical difficulties.
Dr Bolster said that snoring after drinking large amounts of alcohol was a typical sign of depression of the central nervous system. Dr Bolster said that the snoring was “indicative of (him) lapsing in to a coma.”
Dr Bolster said that she had recorded a blood alcohol level of 275mg per litre in the young man at postmortem. However, as he stopped drinking many hours before his condition significantly worsened she indicated that it was fair to conclude that it was probably at a level of 300mg per litre at one point in the night.
“Over 300 mg causes very significant depression of the brain stem. The definition of binge drinking is over 80 mg (per litre). Binge drinking is five drinks in a male and four drinks in a female. There is a dangerous increasing pattern (of binge drinking) now. It (binge drinking) impacts on every organ in the body.”
Dr Bolster said that the body can process just one unit of alcohol per hour. She warned that that binge drinking can damage the white matter of the brain whilst also leading to death in certain cases.
Dr Bolster also stressed that binge drinking can cause “holiday heart syndrome.” This is where persons develop cardiac arrhythmia and die after a bout of heavy drinking.
Dr Bolster said that there was no drug taking involved in the passing of the youth. She emphasised that binge drinking is usually fatal at around the 400mg per litre mark. However, binge drinkingcan cause death at a much lower level in irregular drinkers.
She reassured the family of the deceased that their son would not have suffered . There was no vomit in the bed and the youth simply lapsed in to a coma. Dr Bolster said that the excess alcoholconsumption had caused respiratory arrest and cardiac arrest in addition to aspiration pneumonia.
Meanwhile, Coroner Philip Comyn told the inquest that the family of the young man had shown huge generosity of spirit in making the “difficult decision” to donate his organs when he passed away at CUH in September of last year.
He said that the lives of persons anxiously awaiting organ donation had been transformed by their decision to donate the heart, lung, liver and kidneys of their loved one. The family were also commended for their actions by Emma Corrigan, Co Ordinator of Organ Donation and Transplant Ireland.
Mr Comyn said that the death was an “unfortunate tragedy”which happened when a few young went on a “night out for a bit of fun.”
He commended the close knit group of friends of the deceased “for doing everything they could” when they realised their pal was in trouble. Mr Comyn said that it was important to highlight the dangers of binge drinking.
“It (binge drinking) can lead to tragedy such as this and it can do long term damage to your health. We have the second highest level of binge drinking in the world. Second to Australia. It is a pattern that seems to be increasing. It is something that people need to be aware of and the consequences of it.”
Mr Comyn offered his heartfelt condolences to the family of the deceased. A special mention was made for his friends who also deeply mourn his loss.
Sgt Fergus Twomey also extended his sympathy to the family and friends of the young man on behalf of An Garda Siochana. A verdict of misadventure was recorded in the case.
The young man had a close knit group of friends. The first witness said that when their friend was “falling to one side” they decided to put him in bed. They placed him on his side. “He started snoring. It (the snoring) was really loud the whole night.”
He said that at 6.30am they noticed that their friend had stopped snoring. Whilst he was still breathing they realised there was “foam in his mouth.”
A second friend of the deceased said that they only realised there was a problem when their pal went from snoring to having “faint breathing.” They dialled 999 and carried him to a car arriving in hospital at around 7am on September 13th, 2022.
The male friends were joined by two girls at the house. The evidence of one was read in to the record. She said that the boy, who subsequently died, had lost the card game 21 “a good bit” and was getting quite drunk.
“I told the lads he was very drunk so he didn’t get anymore (alcohol).They put him to bed on his side. He was snoring away and he was sweating. At 6am I went to bed. The lads had been checking on
She said that when they realised there was something wrong with their friend her male friends lifted him to the car and brought him to hospital.
“I was in shock. Myself and my (female friend) went to a church to light a candle.”
