A man suffocated by a toast at breakfast, said an investigation

By Louise Roseingrave

A nursing home resident is choked with a piece of toast while eating breakfast, an investigation said.

Gerald Barry (85) was sitting in bed at the Marymount Nursing Home in Lucan, County Dublin, when he smothered him with a toast on May 29, 2017.

A doctor and a nurse examined him that very morning and told him that he was going to the hospital for an infection in his chest. The old man at first refused and said "no", but seemed to agree when it was announced to his daughter that he was leaving with him.

Caroline Cusack, chief clinical nurse, said she was leaving the room after the exam, when Mr. Barry signaled her to come back.

"He had been taking antibiotics since Friday. The doctor decided to send him to the hospital for intravenous antibiotics. I was at the door when he beckoned me back with his hand. I said "it's okay Gerry" but he could not answer, "she said.

The doctor tried the Heimlich maneuver while Ms. Cusack ran for a vacuum cleaner at the nearby nurses' station. The suction machine raised food particles and phlegm, heard the Dublin Coroner's Court.

Chest compressions began and an ambulance was called at 9:18. The paramedics arrived at 9:28. Mr. Barry was rushed to Connolly Hospital in Blanchardstown. In the ambulance, a ventilation tube dislodged a large piece of toast stuck in the airways of the man.

Mr. Barry was admitted to Connolly Hospital at 10 am, where doctors continued to try to save his life, but his death was pronounced at 10 am.

A post mortem study conducted by Professor Eamon Leen indicated that the cause of death was a cardiac arrhythmia (his heart had stopped) as a result of a choking episode with heart disease and infection of the chest as contributing factors.

"It's the choking episode and the lack of oxygen that causes the heart to stop," Dr. Myra Cullinane told his family, adding that Barry was more vulnerable because of his heart disease and from his chest.

"It's a very fast sequence of events. Very quickly, the drop in the level of oxygen resulted in loss of consciousness and that would have happened soon after the piece of toast got stuck in his airway, "said the coroner, issuing a verdict of accidental death.