The Dublin City Coroner has praised the "courageousness" of two parents who donated their son's organs after he died following an accident.
Vincent Jordan (38), Cabra Road, Dublin, died when he fell from an extension rooftop in his home onto the patio below after he drank half a bottle of tequila, an inquest heard yesterday. The court heard that Mr Jordan had a balance problem since a road accident five years previously did permanent damage to his leg.
Coroner Dr Brian Farrell recorded a verdict of accidental death and praised Sheila and Robert Jordan "for your magnanimous and brave gesture. I want to acknowledge your courage . . . in the face of such a tragedy".
Dr Farrell added that the life of an 11-year-old boy and 36-year-old man had been greatly improved following Mr Jordan's kidney donation.
The court heard Mr Jordan had been drinking tequila alone in his room on the afternoon of May 11th, 2005. He was very drunk by about 11pm and his parents believed he then went to bed. Mrs Jordan heard her son stir at about 3am but thought he then went back to bed.
He was found by his father on the patio "in a pool of blood" the next morning. He was still alive five hours after the fall and was moaning, according to his father.