A man died at his Co Cork home after he received five or six wasp stings as he picked up hedge clippings to the rear of his property, an inquest has heard.
Michael (Mick) Sheehan, originally from Ballinlough, Cork City, was pronounced dead at 2.16pm on November 5th last year at his home in Glen Tanar in Carriganine, Macroom.
His wife Carmel Sheehan told the inquest on Wednesday how her 56-year-old husband had gone out to help two men who were cutting the hedge at his property some time after noon.
After a short period, the retired tax consultant came into the house and told her he was “after getting stung by a wasp”.
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Mrs Sheehan said her husband, a father of three, was not showing any ill effects at this point. There was no obvious cause for concern.
She realised there was not any over-the-counter allergy medication in the family medicine cabinet, so she made the short journey to the local chemist to get the allergy medication Zirtek.
When Mrs Sheehan returned to the property she found her husband “face down on the kitchen floor”.
She ran out the back to the two men who were working in the garden. She said they all rushed in to the house.
“I [then] saw John [the gardener] trying to get Mick to respond. He was sitting Mick up and slapping his face.”
Mrs Sheehan called an ambulance. The Irish Community Air Ambulance from Rathcoole landed in the nearby golf club.
Mrs Sheehan said that when she knew the air ambulance was coming she rushed down to try to show the medics the shortcut to her house.
When she arrived back to the house, a first responder told her that if she had prayers to say then it was probably the appropriate time to start them.
Mrs Sheehan said that sometime after 2pm the emergency medicine consultant Dr Jason van der Velde told her that her husband had died.
A priest was contacted and prayers were said in the kitchen before Mr Sheehan’s body was taken to the morgue at Cork University Hospital for a postmortem.
Garda Don Coomey gave evidence of going to the Sheehan home after he was told of the death. He said there was a small number of wasps in a nest at the back of the property.
Assistant state pathologist Dr Margot Bolster said Mr Sheehan had suffered five or six wasp stings on his head, back and arms.
She said very high levels of tryptase were recorded. Elevated levels of tryptase can be a marker for severe anaphylactic reactions, including those triggered by insect stings.
Dr Bolster said Mr Sheehan suffered a swelling of the larynx which obstructed his breathing, causing him to “collapse very suddenly.”
She said he had suffered a massive allergic reaction.
She told the family she did not think that “anything could have been done” to change the outcome.
Coroner Frank O’Connell recorded a verdict of accidental death. He said it was “most unfortunate” that Mr Sheehan died when he was “innocently picking up hedge clippings”.
After the inquest at Macroom Court, members of the Sheehan family urged the public to be aware of possible side effects of insect stings.
They said people who know they have an allergic reaction to wasp or bee stings should consider investing in EpiPens.
These medical devices that are used in an emergency to inject life-saving adrenaline into people when they have severe allergic reactions.
