AN ELDERLY man died of a fractured skull after falling from a ladder while refilling a bird feeder hanging from a tree.
John Killigrew (73), MacCurtain Street, Fermoy, Co Cork, fell from a “significant height” from the top of a ladder in Fermoy on April 5th, 2009.
Mr Killigrew regularly set out seed to feed local wildlife in a number of bird feeders hanging from the branches of a tree close to Fermoy rowing club, along the river Blackwater.
On April 5th, he had climbed a ladder to access the feeders hanging from the branches of a tree about eight or nine feet above the ground, Cork City Coroner’s Court heard yesterday. It is believed he slipped from the ladder. He was found lying on cobble stones below by a passerby.
John Horgan, who had spoken to Mr Killigrew shortly before his death, said he was in “great form” that day.
In a statement, a second witness, Billy Bane, said Mr Killigrew was lying beneath the ladder, bleeding from the back of his head and breathing heavily when he came upon the scene.
Paramedics were called and arrived at 4.51pm. Mr Killigrew was removed to Cork University Hospital, where a CT scan showed he had suffered massive bleeding on the brain to the right side of his head. He was pronounced dead at Cork University Hospital the following day.
Assistant State Pathologist Dr Margaret Bolster said the cause of death was a fractured skull, consistent with a fall from a height.
Coroner Dr Myra Cullinane said a fall from any height could inflict the same injuries.
Returning a verdict of accidental death, Dr Cullinane said it was a “very tragic story” as Mr Killigrew had been going to feed the birds, but she added that it was “just one of those simple things that can happen”.