Woman was trying to get out of caravan as it was swept into sea by Storm Ali

A 58-year old nurse from Switzerland died when the caravan she was staying in toppled over a cliff onto a beach in Connemara during Storm Ali last year.

An inquest in Galway into the death of Elvira Ferrari heard that winds during the storm in September 2018 were much greater than forecast and that the mother of three died after suffering a fractured skull when the caravan toppled 30 feet on to the beach at Claddaghduff in Connemara.

Coroner Dr Ciaran MacLoughlin heard on Thursday how the owners of Eco Beach Camping and Caravanning Park, Kris and Tatjama Acton, had offered the Swiss native use of a mobile home in a more sheltered location on the site on the night before the storm if she wished.

Mr Acton said that winds of 68-70mph had been forecast for the morning of September 19th last year but when the storm came they were much stronger, upwards of 90mph.

He said they were accustomed to strong winds in the area but it was very unusual to get a storm that strong at that time of year.

The inquest heard he had advised campers to use storm pegs on their tents and to move to more sheltered areas of the site if they wished but they did not envisage much impact from the strength of the wind which was forecast.

Coastguard officer Michael Murray, who lives close to the camp site, said weather forecasters had underestimated the strength of the storm.

"The forecast was well off. It was near hurricane force, a severe storm," said Mr Murray, who added that he had to move his Toyota Landcruiser jeep which he had parked close to where the caravan had been positioned because it was being moved by the wind.

Trying to get out

Ms Ferrari had arrived in Ireland three weeks earlier to do an English language course in Galway city and had decided to visit Connemara for three days before returning home.

She took a bus to Clifden where she rented a bike and cycled to the camp site in Claddaghduff, booking a caravan for three nights.

Another camper, Sally Forth from Darlington in England, said that when she got out of her tent around 7.30am on the morning of the storm on September 19th, she saw the caravan on the headland start to slide towards the edge of the cliff and that a person had the door open and was trying to get out.

A Canadian couple from Quebec, Shannie Gizure Levesque and her partner Caleb-Amie Soltendieck, outlined in written statements how they saw the caravan slide over the edge and how they raised the alarm.

Mr Soltendieck raced down to the beach where the caravan was partly submerged in the water. He could see Ms Ferrari's body under the caravan and when he managed to pull her free he could see a large head wound and it was immediately clear to him that the person was dead.

He attempted to resuscitate the woman but there was no pulse and he knew she was dead. The emergency services arrived at the scene and took over.

Garda Shane Nally said the caravan was searched to check if anyone else was in it and that the body of Ms Ferrari was removed to University Hospital Galway for a post mortem.

Pathologist Dr Ramada Shatwan said the cause of death was a severe traumatic head injury which caused a fractured skull and crushed brain tissue. He said there were no other fractured bones and that all organs were normal.

Dr MacLoughlin said it was a tragic accident. “There is no way this could have been foreseen, a storm of that nature is most unusual at that time of year.”

He said the wind swept the caravan away as Ms Ferrari tried to get out and it came down on top of her on the beach, causing the fatal injury.

He praised the bravery of Mr Soltendieck and the others who tried to assist.

Ms Ferrari is survived by her daughter Mengia and sons Roman and Nico and her ex-husband Bruno. Her son Roman and his partner Alexandre were present at the inquest in Galway.