An inquest has been told of the dangers of autoerotic asphyxiation after the activity claimed the life of a man at his home.
Graham Egan (41) of Kenilworth Road, Rathmines, Dublin was found unresponsive in a shed to the rear of his home on January 23rd, 2015, after engaging in the practice, which involves restricting the flow of oxygen to the brain for the purpose of sexual arousal.
Mr Egan’s partner, Alan Bigley, told Dublin Coroner’s Court that the couple, together 11 years, had dinner the previous evening and sat together watching TV.
Mr Bigley went to bed shortly after midnight but Mr Egan said he was going out to the shed to chill out. “We use it as a discreet playroom,” Mr Bigley said.
He woke at 4.40am and his partner had not returned so he went outside to the shed and found Mr Egan wearing a gas mask and in an unresponsive state. Mr Bigley was unable to rouse him and called emergency services.
Mr Egan was rushed to St James’s Hospital but was not breathing. He was pronounced dead at 5.39am.
State Pathologist Dr Marie Cassidy found the man had inhaled gastric contents following a recent meal. The inquest heard he had been diagnosed with an acid reflux problem a month before his death.
Dr Cassidy said there was medication in the therapeutic range that can cause drowsiness at a very moderate alcohol level. This was an autoerotic death, Dr Cassidy said, and Mr Egan died due to suffocation.
“The mask was used to produce a hypoxic state to produce a heightened sexual response but if anything goes wrong it can be lethal,” Dr Cassidy said.
Coroner Dr Myra Cullinane said “Mr Egan was unable to assist himself” due to the inhalation of gastric contents due to acid reflux. She returned a verdict of death by misadventure.