A 35-year-old English woman holidaying with her family in Co Mayo last month sustained fatal head injuries when she fell down the stairs of a holiday rental after getting out of bed to check on a crying infant, an inquest was told on Monday.
Jessie Lawrence, with an address at Orchard Way, Stratford on Avon, was rushed to Mayo University Hospital (MUH) on after falling down stairs at the guest accommodation in Cong where she and her partner, Graeme (Jimmy) Toney and her two daughters, Orlagh and Rhonagh, aged four and six, were staying.
Garda Pat Coen gave evidence to Monday’s inquest that Ms Lawrence died in the intensive care unit of MUH on August 18th following the fall some days earlier.
Garda Coen said Mr Toney told him one of the children had been crying in the night. He heard a shout and the noise of “a tumble” down the stairs.
‘We have not received threats’: Unifil spokesman responds to claim made by Higgins on Irish troops in Lebanon
Who is Morgan McSweeney, the Irishman heading up Keir Starmer’s Downing Street operation?
Being English in Ireland, I often sense I’m being too frank
Children’s science museum cost fears rise as detail of €560,000 legal bill emerges
Ms Lawrence was found at the bottom of the stairs.
The cause of death was given by Dr Tamas Nemeth, who carried out a postmortem examination, as brain herniation due to traumatic brain injuries.
In a statement to gardaí following the tragedy, Mr Toney said one of his daughters had been crying and he heard Ms Lawrence falling down the stairs.
“I heard the creak of the banister and the thump on the stairs, which really wakened me”, Mr Toney said in his statement.
He added he then found Ms Lawrence lying at the bottom of the stairs, “bleeding from the head”.
He then rang 999.
Following the death, gardaí carried out an extensive examination of the property where the fall occurred and found no evidence of foul play or third-party involvement.
The court heard that a number of Ms Lawrence’s organs – her liver and kidneys – were donated.
After returning a verdict of accidental death, the coroner for the district of Mayo, Pat O’Connor, noted the organ donation, stating that it had been a very noble gesture on the part of the deceased’s family.
“It is one of the most noble things a family can agree to do,” He said.
The coroner added: “Words cannot express the worry and trauma for the partner, their children and other family members.”
Sgt Noel Crinnegan, courts presenter for An Garda Síochána, joined in the expression of sympathy to the bereaved family.
- Sign up for push alerts and have the best news, analysis and comment delivered directly to your phone
- Join The Irish Times on WhatsApp and stay up to date
- Listen to our Inside Politics podcast for the best political chat and analysis