Man’s organs wasted away on junk food diet

A man who lived on wine, Pringles, chocolate, and Coca-Cola died after his internal organs wasted away as a result of his poor diet, an inquest heard.

Fionn Clarke, aged 30, was found dead at his apartment on Melville Way in Finglas, Dublin 11, on Sept 11 last year. He had been dead for at least a week.

Dublin Coroner’s Court heard that he suffered from depression and alcoholism and was a near recluse who had largely cut himself off from his family.

His father, Michael Clarke, said he would call to Fionn’s flat every three or four weeks bringing him “sweets and Coke” as he would not eat anything else.

“There was no electricity or heat in the apartment and whenever he would clean it, Fionn would allow it to get dirty again, said Mr Clarke.

Fionn worked at the Revenue Commissioners but left his job and lived off savings until they run out, he said.

Mr Clarke said his son would make sure he was not at home when he called and he had not seen him since Christmas. He let himself into the apartment on Sept 11 and discovered his son lying naked on the couch. He could tell straight away he was dead, he said.

He told the coroner every time the family tried to help Fionn, they met a “dead end”. The court heard that he was not anorexic and had repeatedly said he did not want to live but did not want die by suicide.

Garda Sean Kelly said that when gardaí went into the apartment they were met with an “overpowering stench” and “overwhelmed” by the amount of rubbish in the living room.

The pathologist who carried out the autopsy, Eamon Leen, was unable to identify a definite cause of death but found Fionn’s internal organs atrophied as a result of his poor diet.

Coroner Brian Farrell said Fionn’s death was a “profound tragedy”, and returned a narrative verdict outlining the facts.