Covid infection a factor in death of businessman who drowned in his daily swim, inquest told
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An infection with covid-19 has been recorded as a factor in the death of a well-known businessman who drowned while swimming near his home in south Dublin almost three years ago.
Company director, Michael Laffan (66) from Willow Bank, The Slopes, Monkstown, Co Dublin, died at St Vincent’s University Hospital in Dublin on January 5, 2022, a few hours after being rescued from the water after getting into difficulty while swimming at Seapoint.
A sitting of Dublin District Coroner’s Court on Wednesday heard that the fatal incident was witnessed by the victim’s wife, Brigid Laffan — a well-known academic and Chancellor of the University of Limerick — and their son, Diarmuid, who entered the water to assist his father.
Mr Laffan, a father of three and businessman, had a distinguished career in business and was a former owner of the cooker and stove manufacturer, Waterford Stanley. He had previously worked with the European Commission, Shannon Development, Electrolux and Thorn EMI as well as spending a period as chief executive of Century Radio.
The inquest heard that family members originally believed Mr Laffan had suffered some type of cardiac event in the water. However, the results of the post-mortem showed he had died from drowning with no evidence that he had experienced any issue with his heart while in the water.
They also confirmed that Mr Laffan tested positive for covid-19, which was unknown to him at the time.
The deceased’s wife told the coroner, Aisling Gannon, that she and her son had accompanied the deceased to the bathing area in Seapoint when he went swimming at around 12.10pm.
Professor Laffan said she noticed that her husband had suddenly stopped swimming which she thought was unusual as the water was very cold. She described seeing him go under the water and alerting others to what was happening.
Prof. Laffan said her son and another passer-by managed to get him out of the water after which two doctors who were in the area immediately started giving her husband CPR. The inquest heard a RNLI lifeboat crew arrived with a defibrillator after a few minutes before Mr Laffan was transferred to hospital by ambulance.
Prof. Laffan said she was advised by doctors in St Vincent’s that the situation was not looking good for her husband and he was pronounced dead at 2.42pm.
She also observed that an unusual feature about her husband’s swimming on the day he died was that he had swum a much longer distance than normal. Prof. Laffan explained that she had checked his Garmin tracking watch which monitored his swimming and he would normally swim around 350 strokes.
Prof. Laffan said four other swimmers who had entered the water with her husband had already returned to shore but he had swum 550 strokes and still had not returned. She said she remained puzzled why he had suddenly stopped swimming and believed that “something happened”.
Prof. Laffan said her husband started swimming again but not with his normal fluid strokes after another nearby swimmer did not seem to have noticed he was in difficulty.
The couple’s son, Diarmuid, said his father, who was a daily swimmer, was unresponsive as he took him out of the cold water. Mr Laffan said his father had been face down but he and another rescuer had managed to turn him over in the water.
The witness said he heard what he described as “a death rattle” when the victim had some kind of convulsion which resulted in white foam coming out of his mouth. “I think he probably died in the water,” said his son.
Mr Laffan said he was optimistic for the first 10 minutes that his father would survive because he was very fit. The court heard medical evidence that the deceased was extremely healthy for his age with no major health concerns apart from a past history of prostate cancer.
In a written statement, a consultant in emergency medicine at St Vincent’s University Hospital, Nigel Salter, said he understood the victim had not been submerged for any lengthy period. However, Dr Salter said Mr Laffan had no heartbeat on arrival at the hospital and his vital signs showed evidence of a prolonged cardiac arrest.
The inquest heard that doctors managed to restore a pulse at one stage but Mr Laffan’s condition deteriorated quickly again and a decision was taken after around two hours of attempted resuscitation that further efforts would be futile.
Dr Salter said hypothermia was unlikely to have been a factor in what happened and he believed that it was some type of cardiac or vascular event that had triggered the fatal incident. However, Ms Gannon said a post-mortem report showed no evidence of any cardiac event, while it also confirmed he had no underlying heart condition.
The coroner said a pathologist had attributed the cause of death to drowning but that the victim had also tested positive for covid-19. Ms Gannon observed that it was still unclear to medical experts what impact the infection could have on people.
The coroner said hypothermia did not cause the event which resulted in Mr Laffan suddenly struggling in the water but said it would have contributed to his death. Ms Gannon recorded the official cause of death as drowning and covid-19 with hypothermia as a contributory factor.
She commented that it could not be certain if the infection had impacted on the victim’s ability to cope in the water on the day.
The coroner said she could not adopt the suggestion by Mr Laffan’s son about raising public awareness of the potential danger of older people swimming in cold water in winter as it would be inappropriate given hypothermia had not been a causative factor in his father’s death.
Returning an open verdict, Ms Gannon explained that she did not believe a verdict of death by natural causes was appropriate in the circumstances.
At the outset of the hearing, the coroner apologised for the delay in holding the inquest which she said was due to the coroner’s service being hampered by the covid-19 pandemic. “We’re doing our best with very limited resources,” she added.
At the conclusion of the inquest, Prof. Laffan thanked all the various individuals for the “incredible” help they had provided to her husband. “If Michael could have been saved, he would have been saved,” Prof. Laffan remarked.