Mother died from brain injury in crash

A BRAIN haemorrhage sparked by a road traffic accident resulted in the death of a 68-year-old mother of a large family, an inquest was told in Tralee.

Celia O’Mahony, of Coolbalas, Listowel, Co Kerry, appeared quite normal and alert immediately after the crash, but developed seizures and became semiconscious on her way to Kerry General Hospital, in Tralee, the inquest heard.

She had been driving on a regional road near Ballylongford, Co Kerry, on February 5 last, when she was involved in a collision with a large horse box being towed by a jeep. A third vehicle also became involved in the accident.

A witness travelling behind Ms O’Mahony told how her car hit the horse box. A witness coming in the opposite direction told how the jeep had remained on its own side and that the horse box was wider than the jeep.

There was no central line on the road which was controlled by an 80 km/h speed limit. The accident occurred at night and there was no street lighting on the road, described by a Garda witness as straight with bumps and hollows.

Emergency medical personnel called to the scene said Ms O’Mahony was pale but conscious and alert. Her pulse was normal and she spoke to them and members of her family who arrived on the scene.

However, her condition deteriorated on her way to Kerry General Hospital by ambulance and she died two days later.

Assistant state pathologist Dr Margot Bolster, who carried out a post-mortem examination, found death was due to traumatic bleeding to the base of the brain following a traffic accident. She said such bleedings could occur naturally, but in this case it was as a result of trauma associated with an accident.

Dr Bolster said survival for a period of time with normal consciousness was well documented.

Coroner Helen Lucey, extending sympathy to the O’Mahony family, said it was a horrific experience for the family given that the deceased appeared to be relatively well getting into the ambulance.

A verdict in accordance with the medical evidence was returned by the jury.

Inspector Martin McCarthy and the jury forewoman associated themselves with the expressions of sympathy to the bereaved family.