Woman with MS dies of asphyxia in care centre

A WOMAN who was severely incapacitated with multiple sclerosis asphyxiated during a brief stay in a respite care centre, an inquest heard yesterday.

Linda Ryan, aged 46, from Dublin’s Swords, was discovered on the floor with her head caught between the bed rail and the mattress in MS Ireland’s respite centre at Bushy Park in Rathgar on February 27, 2005.

Her husband, Tony Ryan, who also has MS and uses a wheelchair, said this was the first time during nine years of visiting the centre that he had not stayed overnight with her.