A woman arrived at her parents’ house to find both her mother and father lying at the bottom of the stairs, an inquest heard.
Her father had fallen and could not get up and her mother, who has Alzheimer's disease, had lain down beside him to keep him company.
John O’Reilly (86) from Edenmore Park, Raheny, Dublin 5, died at Beaumont Hospital five days later, due to injuries sustained in the fall. His wife is now in a nursing home.
Martina Cooke told Dublin Coroner’s Court that she arrived at the family home on January 5th, 2017, at about 10am. She was shocked and upset to find her parents lying on the hall floor.
There was some blood on the radiator but her father told her that her mother was uninjured.
Her mother suffers from Alzheimer’s disease and her father was her primary carer, the court heard.
“I was worried when I saw the blood but Dad said Mum was alright, that she had lain down to keep him company,” Ms Cooke said. “He was her full-time carer. She wouldn’t have realised what was going on.”
Mr O’Reilly was transferred from the house to Beaumont Hospital by ambulance. Scans revealed multiple fractured ribs, with bleeding into the chest and air in the chest as a result.
A chest drain was inserted but the man developed kidney failure and pneumonia and his condition deteriorated over a number of days.
He died in hospital at 11.45pm on January 10th, 2017.
The cause of death was pneumonia due to rib fractures due to a fall with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease as a contributory factor.
Deputy Coroner Dr Crona Gallagher returned a verdict of accidental death.
“A fall and rib fractures would be enough on its own to cause fatality, it’s a severe injury and certainly at this age would be associated with a high level of mortality,” the coroner said.