Man (26) who died after fall had head injuries more consistent with road crash

A young Dublin man who died after suffering a fall while out jogging near his home had head injuries that were more consistent with someone who had been involved in a road traffic collision or a fall from a significant height, an inquest has heard.

Conor Cronin (26) was discovered lying on the ground near Albert College Park on Ballymun Road, Glasnevin around lunchtime on November 4th, 2020.

He had been out running to raise funds for the men’s health charity, Movember.

Mr Cronin was brought by ambulance to the Mater Misericordiae University Hospital but was transferred the following day to Beaumont Hospital for emergency surgery to reduce pressure on his brain after his condition deteriorated.

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The cybersecurity analyst with an address at Walnut Avenue, Drumcondra was pronounced dead shortly before 10pm on November 6th, 2020.

The second day of an inquest into his death at Dublin District Coroner’s Court on Thursday heard evidence from pathologist Alan Beausang who carried out a postmortem on the body of the deceased.

Dr Beausang said Mr Cronin had suffered swelling across all parts of his brain, which had weighed 2,100 grammes at postmortem – approximately 50 per cent heavier than its normal weight.

The pathologist said the victim had also suffered a number of fractures to his skull which were consistent with someone involved in a road traffic collision or a fall from a significant height.

“They were quite severe and would be unusual [to result] from a simple fall,” said Dr Beausang.

The inquest had previously heard on Wednesday that tests on Mr Cronin had shown that he had low sodium levels in his body while in hospital which could have affected the swelling in his brain.

However, Dr Beausang said there had not been a sustained period of low sodium levels and most of his findings were attributable to traumatic brain injuries arising from the fall.

Asked by the coroner, Clare Keane, if a hypoglycaemic attack – where there are low sugar levels in the body – had caused the fall, the pathologist said it was hard to say but it was “certainly possible.”

The inquest had heard evidence that Mr Cronin suffered from Type 1 diabetes since a young child and carried an insulin pump with him.

Concluding the case, Dr Keane attributed the cause of death to swelling of the brain due to a traumatic injury suffered as a result of the fall that arose from “a hypoglycaemic episode.”

The coroner returned a verdict of accidental death and said Mr Cronin would not have died but for the fall.

She said she would not make any recommendations but endorsed changes already made around protocols to escalate care and improve communication processes between the two hospitals.

Dr Keane said she also welcomed indications that a system using hands-free technology was being trialled that would allow surgeons in theatre to be consulted in relation to other patients.

The legal representative for the Mater and Beaumont Hospital, Kevin Power, said his clients would happily arrange to meet with Mr Cronin’s family to outline in greater detail the changes that had been made.

Solicitor for Mr Cronin’s family, Jamie Hart, said he believed his clients would be happy to accept such an offer.

Addressing members of the deceased’s family who were attending the inquest including Mr Cronin’s mother, Tina, and his siblings, Sinéad, Ciarán and Alanna, Dr Keane said it was clear that his sudden, unexpected loss had been “absolutely devastating” for them.

The coroner expressed hope that their questions about his death had been answered at the inquest.

Dr Keane informed the family that Organ Donation Ireland had advised her that five other patients had been helped by the decision to donate Mr Cronin’s heart, liver, lungs and kidneys.

She recalled how he was generous during his life by fundraising for Movember and equally generous in his death “with the extraordinary gift of his organs.”

Offering her condolences to Mr Cronin’s family on their loss in “such tragic circumstances,” the coroner concluded: “He was an extraordinary individual in life and death.”