Man paralysed after being stabbed in hospital by patient

A 73-year-old man was paralysed after he was stabbed by a fellow patient in a psychiatric ward in a Dublin hospital, an inquest heard on Monday.

James McGrane of College Park, Terenure, Dublin, was stabbed by a patient suffering from paranoid schizophrenia at the HSE-run psychiatric facility at Tallaght hospital on May 11th, 2010.

Mr McGrane was stabbed with a kitchen knife bought hours before the incident. His spine was severed in the attack. He died eight months later.

In a statement to gardaí the day after the incident, Mr McGrane said he was sitting on his bed waiting for his psychologist to arrive when he was stabbed.

‘Awful thump’

“I picked up my phone to check the time and the next thing I felt this awful thump into my back,” he told gardaí.

At an inquest into his death, his daughter Audrey O’Farrell said the family had received no report, review or investigation findings from the HSE.

Pathologist Dr Marie Cassidy said cause of death was principally heart disease and pneumonia, with the stab wound as a contributory factor.

The inquest was adjourned for mention to December 9th pending further evidence relating to policies at the unit in 2010.