Cork schoolboy Jimmy Horgan's parents reached out to driver after tragedy
Jimmy Horgan died in a tragic accident on his way to school. Picture: iDonate
The parents of a schoolboy who died after being struck by a truck as it made a tight turn in Cork City say they bear no ill will towards the driver for what was a tragic accident.
Ernest and Rachel Horgan, the heartbroken parents of Jimmy, 13, from Blackrock in Cork, who suffered fatal injuries in the collision at the junction of Dyke Parade and Sheare’s St, on November 17, 2020, said they recognise the trauma experienced by the driver, Niall Murphy, arising out of the incident.
The details emerged at Cork City Coroner’s Court yesterday during the inquest into Jimmy’s death after which the jury recommended a review of traffic arrangements and new pedestrian safety railings in the area.
City coroner Philip Comyn heard how Jimmy’s grandfather, Barry Corcoran, was parked on Sheare’s St waiting to collect his grandson after school at nearby Presentation Brothers College on Dyke Parade just before 3.30pm on November 17, 2020.
In his statement, which was read into the record by Sgt Fergus Twomey, Mr Corcoran said he saw Jimmy come to the junction of Dyke Parade and Sheare’s St, and that they saw each other across the road, just as a truck was arriving at the junction from behind Jimmy, and was beginning a left turn onto Prospect Row.
Mr Corcoran said as the truck approached, he shouted at Jimmy to stop.
Mr Murphy, who has been a truck driver for 18 years, was driving a Hino four-axle truck, loaded with electrical items for recycling. He was heading towards Dublin Hill, and said he needed an angle to take the left turn onto Prospect Row, and noticed that there was a lot of students at the pedestrian crossing.
He said he indicated left, but positioned his truck somewhat in the right lane on Dyke Parade to ensure that it would make the left turn.
He said he saw children on the left and right side of the road as he was turning, and saw Jimmy at the junction, but then looked straight ahead as he proceeded to make the left turn.
Mr Murphy told the inquest that the truck was travelling at under 20kph, and that when he straightened the vehicle up after making the turn, he looked in the passenger side mirrors and saw legs under the truck’s left-side wheels. He said he didn’t feel any impact.
Tragically, Mr Corcoran said in his statement that he saw the back wheels of the truck go over his grandson’s legs. He said he rushed to help him, held his hands and kept talking to him, but didn’t move him.
Several people in the area who witnessed the collision alerted the emergency services. A number of off-duty nurses rendered immediate assistance, and fire fighters, gardaí and paramedics arrived soon afterwards.
Jimmy was treated first at the scene, before being removed the short distance to MUH, where despite the best efforts of the medical staff, he was pronounced dead.
Assistant state pathologist, Dr Margot Bolster, told the inquest that Jimmy had suffered multiple traumatic injuries, and died of poly trauma and blunt force trauma, consistent with a road traffic accident.
She told his parents, Ernest and Rachel, that death would have been instant and that he wouldn’t have suffered.
Garda forensic collision investigator, Raymond Sweeney, said following a review of CCTV footage from the area, it was clear that many pedestrians come to the end of the footpath at Dyke Parade and cross at this shorter location, rather than rounding the corner and walking an extra few feet to a pedestrian crossing.
The jury of three men and three women returned a verdict of accidental death and recommended that Cork City Council review traffic arrangements in the area and consider the installation of a protective railing.
The Horgan’s solicitor, Ernest Cantillon, described it as “tragic” and “awful accident with no-one to blame” and he said Jimmy’s parents bear no ill-will towards the truck driver and recognised the trauma it had caused to him too.
It also emerged that the Horgans had reached out to the truck driver via his employers the day after the accident.
Mr Comyn extended his sympathies to the Horgan family and said his spirits had been uplifted somewhat to hear that they had reached out to the truck driver, and that the driver’s wife had responded to them.
Sgt Twomey also extended condolences on behalf of gardaí to the family, and said Jimmy’s death had triggered a “tsunami of grief in the city afterwards” the like of which had not been seen for many years.
Mr Cantillon paid tribute to the fire service, gardaí, medical, nursing and chaplaincy staff at MUH for their compassion on the day of the accident, and to Jimmy’s school for their support.
Mr and Mrs Horgan held a torchlight walk in their son’s memory along the city’s Marina on the first anniversary of his death last November, and fundraised for MUH.
They had hoped to raise a few thousand euro but as of yesterday, a staggering €86,000 had been raised. You can still donate here: Mercy University Hospital Foundation fundraiser in memory of Jimmy Horgan.
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