THE DEATH of a pregnant woman following a day of binge drinking has highlighted the dangers of excessive alcohol consumption among young women, an inquest has been told.
Exotic dancer Fri Areebi Fomufud (25), a Cameroon native living in Midleton, east Cork, died as a result of heart failure at her home in Ballyedmond Mews on July 21st, 2009, Cork City Coroner’s Court was told yesterday.
The woman’s five-year-old daughter Stacey told gardaí that her mother had been drinking whiskey and dancing on the kitchen counter but fell as she tried to climb down and then lay “sleeping” on the kitchen floor.
Described as happy and fun-loving, Ms Fomufud, who was in the early stages of pregnancy at the time of her death, had been living in Ireland for six years.
She and the father of the child, Limerick-based radiologist Dr Alex Stafford, had been in a solid relationship for eight months leading up to her death and had planned a future together.
Dr Stafford had visited her the previous night and described her as healthy and in good form. Unable to contact her mobile phone the next day, Dr Stafford called Ms Fomufod’s daughter’s mobile at 7.30pm. The child said she could not wake her mother but that she was snoring on the kitchen floor.
Dr Stafford arrived at the house at 9pm, where he found his girlfriend’s naked body slumped against a chair in the kitchen.
The child said they had been playing in the back garden and had sprayed water on each other.
Ms Fomufud was brought to Cork University Hospital where she was pronounced dead.
Pathologist Dr Margaret Bolster concluded that Ms Fomufud died as a result of an electrical abnormality of the heart, brought on by binge drinking. A blood alcohol level of 271 mg was recorded, which is well below the fatal toxic level of 400 mg.
Dr Bolster warned that certain individuals with latent cardiac conduction disturbances were particularly at risk from binge drinking and that she had seen a rise in the instances of deaths, among young women in particular.
Schubert Fomufud said his sister always put her family first and had come to Ireland to pursue her dreams. He described her death as tragic and untimely.
Dr Stafford said they planned a future together as a family.
“I know she liked to take a drink with friends but when she was with me, she would hardly take a drink at all,” he said. “She was a young woman in the prime of her life and she was pregnant with my baby, and that just added to the great tragedy of it all.”