An elderly couple who died after becoming stuck in heavy clay soil in the garden of their Co Cavan home had an emergency pager that would have summoned help, but they had left it indoors, it has emerged.
Mr James Hynan (79), and his wife Mrs Elizabeth Hynan (75), died from exposure after they became stuck on Monday last week. It is believed Mr Hynan first became stuck at around lunchtime last Monday while gardening. His wife tried to help but she also became stuck.
They were exposed to cold, stormy weather and were found dead together at teatime by neighbours.
The couple, who had worked for most of their lives in England and had returned to the Killeshandra area about 15 years ago, had a pendant pager which, if pressed, would have alerted a 24-hour emergency helpline.
The helpline is run by Victim Support and is mainly aimed at elderly people living in isolated rural areas. The system was introduced four years ago in response to the growing fears of elderly people living in rural areas of attacks and robberies. Yesterday, at the launch of a freephone telephone helpline, Victim Support members heard that the case of the Hynans showed that elderly people, particularly those living on isolated farms, needed to be aware how to summon help.
The Hynans' case was raised yesterday by the president of Muintir na Tire, Mr Jim Quigley. He said it showed that elderly people needed to become accustomed to carrying their pendant pagers at all times.
Mr Derek Nally, president of Victim Support, agreed, saying he knew of cases where elderly people kept their pendants "safe" in bedroom dressers. "This is one of the problems we experience with elderly people. Only the other day a woman rang to say she had put her pendant away "very safely" and had now lost it. "Some elderly people are afraid that if they use the pendant it will `cause too much of a fuss with gardai and with fire engines calling'."
Referring to the new Victim Support Freephone National 24Hour Helpline, Mr Nally said: "Our message is to ring us as often as you like. That is the message we are endeavouring to get over to elderly people, not only in rural areas but in urban areas where there is also isolation. This freephone helpline will help with linkage and communication." The freephone number - 1800 661 771 - is the latest development of Victim Support's 24-hour helpline, which is run by Victim Support members, staffed by volunteers and financed by the Department of Justice. It is aimed at helping victims of crime but also isolated, elderly people.
Ms Jennifer Guinness of Victim Support said the helpline had received 630 calls this year and the development of the freephone system would triple the rate of calls. Thousands of cards with the freephone number are being distributed throughout the country.
At yesterday's launch, the broadcaster Marian Finucane praised the work of Victim Support and said that from her experiences of callers to her radio programme, victims of crime felt "trampled on slightly, used and abused as if they are witnesses and no more than that, in the court proceedings". "Victim Support is hugely important," she said.