Tourist, who wanted to visit Ireland before health failed, fell and died during holiday

A chronically ill tourist visiting Ireland as part of his dying wish fell and died while on holiday, an inquest heard on Tuesday.

Dennis Dixon of Vancouver, Canada arrived in Ireland with his wife and two daughters last summer.

They were touring around the country and were staying in west Mayo when he fell in a bedroom.

Mr Dixon had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease three years earlier and his health was rapidly deteriorating, Dublin Coroner’s Court heard.

"He desperately wanted to visit Ireland and spend time with my family before the disease made it impossible," his wife Niamh Kelly said in her deposition, which was read out in court.

Mr Dixon continued his holiday, travelling to Galway and then Dublin, where he complained of chest pain some days later. His wife took him to a walk-in clinic on Dame Street. The doctor felt he may have sprained ribs, but wrote a referral letter for X-ray in case the pain worsened.

Mr Dixon attended St James’ Hospital for an X-ray on Thursday, August 27th 2015, six days after the initial fall. In hospital, it transpired he had fractured three ribs and he was admitted.

“Dennis was somewhat irked all the fuss,” his wife said, adding that he wanted to continue his holiday. The following day the family stayed with Mr Dixon in hospital until 11pm. “He was tired but in good spirits,” Ms Kelly said.

Later that night she got a call from hospital staff. Mr Dixon had been found unresponsive in bed around 2am. He was pronounced dead on August 29th.

A post mortem found he died after breaking multiple ribs in a fall, which caused bleeding in his chest cavity, which compromised his breathing causing cardiac arrest.

"This was quite a significant injury. It is remarkable he didn't have to be taken away in an ambulance after the fall," Coroner Dr Crona Gallagher said.

It was not clear why a drain was not put in place in hospital and Dr Gallagher adjourned the inquest pending an answer to this question.