Student sues over injuries following powerboat collision on Shannon

High Court hears teenager suffered brain bleed after boat hit bridge

A student was knocked unconscious and suffered a bleed to her brain when a powerboat on which she was a passenger collided with a bridge on the River Shannon, the High Court heard.

Millie O'Donnell (21), Laburnam Road, Clonskeagh, Dublin, is suing the driver of the boat, Richard Coffey (24), Merrion Park, South Avenue, Blackrock, Co Dublin, over the incident on July 14th, 2012.

She is also suing the boat owner, Brian Corcoran, of Lecarrow, Co Roscommon.

Mr Coffey denies negligence, including claims of driving at an excessive speed and going into a position of obvious danger. Mr Corcoran denies he is vicariously liable for the alleged negligence of Mr Coffey.

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After the rigid inflatable boat (Rib) hit a pillar of the rail bridge at Marine View, Athlone, Ms O'Donnell was knocked out while the driver and another young man were thrown into the water, the court heard. A fourth person on the boat managed to put it into neutral when it started spinning around.

Ms O'Donnell, an Alexandra College student at the time who played on Leinster and Ireland under-18 hockey teams, was sitting in the bow of the Rib with her back facing the direction in which it was travelling when it hit the pillar.

The boat, with a 40 horse power engine, was described by Mr Justice Michael Hanna as the "Maserati of the high seas".

In evidence, Ms O’Donnell said she was in Athlone for the weekend in the family’s Shannon cruiser and met some friends who were invited to an 18th birthday party upriver at Coosan Point.

Not drinking

She was not going to go to the party and had not been drinking, but decided to accompany her friend Molly Henshaw to pick up Molly's own Rib which was moored elsewhere so more people who had come along could travel to the party.

With them was Mr Coffey, who drove the boat, and another man, David Jinks. Only she and Ms Henshaw were wearing life jackets; it was about 10pm and getting dark, she said.

After sitting into the Rib, the last thing she remembered was waking up in Portiuncula Hospital.

The court heard she suffered a bleed to the brain and a doctor told her mother, Hilary O'Donnell, she might have to be transferred to Beaumont Hospital in Dublin, the national neurosurgical centre. She remained in Portiuncula for nine days in a neck brace where she suffered severe headaches.

Garda David Turner, Athlone, who arrived on the shore where the Rib had now been tied up, said Mr Coffey was wet and upset and kept saying: “I killed Millie, I killed Millie, I’m sorry.”

Mooring buoy

In a statement to the Garda later by Mr Coffey, he said as he approached he bridge he was surprised by a mooring buoy in the water and tried to miss it and, in an effort to correct the boat, hit the pillar.

In his statement to gardaí, Rob Corcoran, son of the Rib owner Brian Corcoran, said he gave the keys to Mr Coffey to make the journey to pick up the second Rib because he (Rob) "had had a few drinks". While Mr Coffey had some drink, he was not drunk and was "fine", he said.

In his evidence, Mr Coffey said Rob Corcoran did not want to drive the boat because Rob was “having too much crack” where he was.

Mr Coffey said he had driven Ribs before and knew that part of the river but would not say he was familiar with it. When he saw the buoy, he swerved “and before I knew it we had crashed”.

The case was adjourned to later this month for legal submissions.