Man killed as he tended dog injured in crash
Jack Ryan, 55, from Kilteelym, Co Limerick, was out walking his dog on the night of March 13 last.
A motorist told an inquest in Limerick yesterday that he saw Mr Ryan standing on the side of the road near Kilteely.
Mr Ryan was wearing dark clothes.
As the motorist approached, a dog ran out in front of his car and was struck.
After stopping, Mr Ryan came across the road and went to attend the dog, which was trapped under the rear of the car.
A second car approached and struck Mr Ryan as he was crouched down tending to his badly injured dog.
Garda Keith Harmon, Bruff, said when he got to the scene Mr Ryan was dead. He said the dog was still alive under the car but it had to be put down afterwards for humane reasons.
The inquest was told that it was dark at the time and the roadway was unlit.
Accident forensic expert Garda Mick Reddy said the car which struck Mr Ryan would have been travelling very slowly, at walking pace, when it struck him.
The fact that Mr Ryan was crouched down tending to his injured dog, allied to his dark clothes, would have made it difficult for the driver to see him on the road, the witness said.
Garda Reddy said he found no defects on the car, although the driver’s seat was reclined unusually far back, which would have affected the driver’s field of vision.
Pathologist Dr James O’Driscoll said Mr Ryan died as a result of bleeding into the lungs caused by the impact. His injuries were consistent with having been involved in a road traffic accident.
A verdict in accordance with the medical evidence was recorded by coroner Dr Tony Casey, who along with Insp Luke Conlon and the jury foreman, expressed their condolences to the Ryan family.
