Virus cause of holiday death, jury told
As Keith Christopher Grey lay unconscious on a beach on the idyllic island ofPhi Phi, blood collected in the cavity of his skull, killing him.
Dublin County Coroner’s Court heard the victim had a family history that high blood pressure could have resulted in him being susceptible to the virus, which could spread as commonly as a cold.
State pathologist Dr Marie Cassidy urged his siblings to be checked for similar problems.
Mr Grey, of Monalea Grove, Firhouse, Tallaght, was found unconscious by locals and taken by boat to Krabi Hospital, where he was put on a respirator in the intensive care unit.
Four friends who had travelled with Mr Grey, and who had searched for him after he did not return from a night out, arranged for him to be taken to Bangkok Phuket Hospital, where he was declared clinically dead.
Dr Cassidy, who carried out an autopsy on Mr Grey’s body after it was returned home, found he had died from a subdural haemorrhage on the brain — blood collecting inside the skull cavity.
She said Mr Grey had a bruise on his skull, but had not suffered any major head trauma. She said it was probable Mr Grey and others had suffered from a virus, but while most had recovered he had suffered heart symptoms.
“The inflation of the heart muscle is most likely due to a viral infection,” she said.
“He suffered a heart attack and lay there long enough to develop subdural haemorrhage.”
A jury returned a verdict of accidental death.
