Woman with MS dies of asphyxia in care centre
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.
“She had reached the ... secondary progressive stage of multiple sclerosis. She was high dependency,” Mr Ryan said.
A solicitor for MS Ireland said the staff were mystified as to how Mrs Ryan, who was highly dependent and only able to move her arms, had managed to get into such a position.
Rose Tucker, a care assistant at the centre, broke down on the stand as she told the inquest of discovering Mrs Ryan around 9.20am sitting in a semi-upright position on the floor with her head caught between the bed rail and the mattress.
Another nurse, Maria O’Brien, said she had sat down with Mrs Ryan’s husband the previous day to determine Mrs Ryan’s needs during her week-long stay at the home.
She said Mr Ryan had requested she be turned on a two-hourly basis to ease her pressure sores.
Ms O’Brien said she gave all the details to the night nurse as she went off duty around 10.30pm.
Anne Murphy, the registered general nurse on duty that night, said Mrs Ryan was hoisted into bed around 11pm. “Before leaving the room I placed the call bell in her hand,” she said.
The inquest heard that at around 12.20am Mrs Ryan rang for assistance. Around 4.30am, Ms Ryan’s position was changed again.
Following the nurses leaving the room at 4.45am, the inquest heard Mrs Ryan was next checked when Ms Tucker found her caught at the side of the bed at 9.20am.
Professor Sean O’Briain, the pathologist, said Mrs Ryan had died from positional asphyxia. Dublin City Coroner Dr Brian Farrell adjourned the inquest until September 7 to hear evidence from gardaí on whether an investigation into the death was carried out.
