A Ballinasloe teenager who collapsed after snorting a substance he believed was cocaine was rushed to hospital on the boot of a garda car, the Dublin City Coronor’s Court heard.
According to reports Darragh Walsh-Ring (19 ) of Dunlo Harbour, Harbour Road, Ballinasloe, had a fit and lost consciousness in the early hours of September 17, 2010, after snorting numerous lines of lignocaine, which is a heart drug and widely used anaesthetic, at a friend’s house. Mr Walsh-Ring and his friends bought the drug earlier believing it to be cocaine.
The coroner’s court was told that gardai received a call at 2am and upon arrival they found the man lying unconscious. First aid was performed on Mr Walsh-Ring while an ambulance was called. Help was sought from Portiuncula Hospital and a senior nurse arrived with a defibrillator. It was while waiting for an ambulance that it was decided to take Mr Walsh-Ring to the local hospital by patrol car. CPR, which needs to be performed on a hard surface, was continued with the teenager placed across the boot of the car on the way to hospital. He was later transfered to St Vincent’s Hospital in Dublin on September 19 where he died of brain damage and multi-organ failure due to lignocaine toxicity on September 21.
