Patient died after choking on piece of beef at Beaumont

A 77-year-old man died after he choked on a piece of beef at Beaumont Hospital, an inquest has heard.

Vincent Quinn, from Cromcastle Court, Kilmore West, in Dublin 5, was recovering in hospital following a fall at home when the incident happened.

He was found collapsed and unresponsive at the end of his bed on a four-bed ward in hospital on July 2015, two days after he was admitted.

His colour was grey and he was not breathing, Dublin Coroner’s Court heard.

Resuscitation efforts commenced and a piece of meat was found lodged in the man’s airway.

His nephew, Vincent McCarthy said the man lived independently. He collected his pension, did his own shopping and cooked his own meals.

On July 17th, he collected him and brought him to Northside Shopping Centre. “He was grand, he was in good form, although he was a little bit down because it was his wife’s anniversary,” Mr McCarthy said.

Admitted to hospital

The following day he got a call from a neighbour to say Mr Quinn was not answering the door. He found his uncle lying on his side on the floor. Mr Quinn was admitted to hospital.

“He was reasonably okay in hospital but then we got a call to say he’d been sitting up in bed eating his dinner and we were told a lump of beef got caught in his throat,” Mr McCarthy said.

The elderly man had a history of epilepsy and had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, the inquest heard.

He sustained a brain injury due to the lack of oxygen during the choking episode. He remained critically unwell and died on August 6th, 2015.

The cause of death was hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy due to cardiac arrest due to obstruction of the airway with a food bolus, according to pathologist Dr Niamh Redmond.

"As we understand it, it went down the wrong way as it were, with a very tragic outcome," Coroner Dr Myra Cullinane said, returning a verdict of death by misadventure.

“He was clearly well cared for and looked after by his family and he was independent and lived on his own terms,” the coroner said.