Coroner calls for ban on ‘unsafe’ blinds
Dean Patrick Regan Russell, two weeks short of his second birthday, lost his life on January 7 at Our Lady’s Hospital for Sick Children in Crumlin. It was five days after an incident in his bedroom at Muing, Oakpark Road, Tralee, Co Kerry, his inquest heard yesterday.
It is almost identical to at least 15 other deaths in Ireland since 2005.
Speaking during his ruling on the case at Dublin Coroner’s Court, Dr Brian Farrell said it was his view “this type of blind should no longer be manufactured”.
The toddler’s grandfather, Martin Regan, said during the hearing that the family “wants a ban on these blinds so this doesn’t happen to another child”.
Coroner Dr Farrell, who recorded a verdict of accidental death, told Dublin Coroner’s Court that the configuration of the looped string was “the danger”.
“Clearly this is a dangerous design,” the coroner said, before pledging to contact the relevant authorities to help ensure the type of blinds in question were no longer manufactured.
“We have had similar inquests in the past where infants have become entangled in the looped strings of similar blinds. We have made recommendations in public, and to the national standards authority, and to individual manufacturers that the configuration be modified and the string be separated into two lengths.
“It’s sad to say that blinds with this configuration are still available,” he said.
“We need to emphasise this. It has caused the deaths of several infants and now we have a death in Kerry.”
The boy’s mother, Joanne Russell, told the court the blinds they were sold in April 2010 were “against EU regulations from July 2009”. “There were no warning signs or safety devices attached... on the blinds,” she said.
Joanne and Michael Russell cried and hugged each other after the coroner told the inquest their son would not have suffered and would have become unconscious instantaneously.
The inquest heard that the toddler’s uncle, Martin Regan, made the discovery when he checked on Dean, who had been put down for his afternoon nap. He saw Dean standing at the window and called to him, but there was no answer. It was then that he noticed his feet were elevated.
“This is a tragic accident,” Dr Farrell said, recording a verdict of accidental death.
“If we can save the life of one child, Dean’s death will not have been in vain,” said the baby’s uncle Martin Regan Jnr, speaking outside the court, after the inquest.
Earlier, speaking in the court, Sinn Féin TD Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin, a family friend of the Regans, said such blinds had caused the death of 119 children in the US since 1999.
The most high-profile cases include that of Cork toddler Aran Malley, 2, who died in February 2009, and 14-month-old Eibhe Foster, of Piltown, Co Kilkenny, who died in March 2010.
