Quad bike crash victim’s organs donated to 4

A quad bike accident cost an eight-year-old boy his life following a collision 500m from his home.

Ultan Hayes, from Ballingough, Whitegate, outside Scarriff in Co Clare, suffered fatal head injuries after a spin on the family’s new quad bike turned to tragedy.

Three children and an adult benefited from his parents’ decision to donate his organs, Dublin Coroner’s Court heard.

The boy’s father, Brian Hayes, had purchased the 500cc Suzuki quad bike for the farm earlier that day.

The Hayes’s four children were “all excited to have a spin” on the new quad, Ultan’s mother Ora Hayes said.

Brian Hayes said he was driving and Ultan was sitting behind as a passenger when the quad bike went out of control and hit a wall. The accident happened 500m from the Hayes family home at Cregg on the Mountshannon to Portumna road at 9pm on April 3, 2014.

“I don’t know what happened or why. It just happened so quick I can’t remember,” Mr Hayes said. “I pushed the quad bike off me to go find Ultan. I couldn’t find him for what seemed an eternity.”

Aoife Jameson, a nurse on her way from Limerick, arrived at the scene.

“I saw Brian Hayes beside the quad bike and asked was everything okay. He said ‘I’m fine but this little man isn’t’,” Ms Jameson said.

Neighbour Michael Minogue said Brian Hayes was holding his son’s head trying to talk to him when he came upon the scene.

“Brian said he’d hit a rock. I threw it into the ditch to clear the road,” he said.

Emergency services were called and Ultan was transferred to Limerick General Hospital and later to Temple St Children’s Hospital where he died of severe head injuries.

Forensic collision investigator Sgt Anthony McHugh said the quad hit a stone wall and Ultan had been thrown 20ft by the force of the impact.

Sgt McHugh said the quad had rounded a slight left bend and hit a wall on the right hand side of the road.

Mr Hayes, who was pinned underneath the quad bike, said he had experienced a wave of “pure adrenalin” to free himself to find Ultan. He said he had not been advised to seek training when he bought the quad bike earlier that day.

He asked if there could have been a different outcome if his son had been taken to Temple St via air ambulance. “These were non-survivable head injuries,” soroner Brian Farrell replied.

Dr Farrell praised the family’s courage in their decision to donate Ultan’s organs, describing it as a “generous and magnanimous gesture”.

The jury returned a verdict of accidental death and made recommendations that quad bikes be classified in the same vehicle category as motorcycles, requiring specific training, helmets and protective equipment. The jury further recommended that dealers selling quad bikes should encourage buyers to avail of training.

Public Service Vehicle inspector Gda Darragh Condon said training for quad bike use was vital.

“Totally unexpected things happen... I think there’s a moral responsibility, training is highly desirable,” he said.