Family’s agony over boy drowned in pool
Toddler found face down in three inches of water
A YOUNG boy suffered fatal injuries after being found face down in three inches of water in a paddling pool, an inquest heard yesterday.
Daithi O’grady was 22 months old when he died in Children’s Health Ireland at Temple Street in Dublin on June 10, 2021.
He had been there for three days following the tragic incident at his home in Glenballythomas, Tulsk, Co Roscommon.
A sitting of Dublin District Coroner’s Court heard the toddler had been playing on a tractor in the back garden. His mother, Hayley O’grady, said she had been playing with him but had gone into the kitchen to put a kettle on to make a cup of coffee.
Although she attended the inquest, Ms O’grady did not wish to give evidence and asked for her statement to be read out by a court official.
She recalled that June 7 had been a warm day. The inquest heard she came inside, while her husband went out to the garden. Ms O’grady then heard him scream about their son being in the pool.
“I was in utter shock,” she said. Mr O’grady described finding his son in an unresponsive state in the paddling pool sometime after 11am.
He said he immediately placed the boy on the ground and tried to resuscitate him before efforts at CPR were taken over by his father Gabriel.
Ambulance crews found Daithi had no pulse. His heartbeat was restored after about 30 minutes but he remained unresponsive.
He was transported by air ambulance to University Hospital Galway , then to Dublin later that day. Garda
Mike Dwyer stated the boy had been found face down in three inches of water in the paddling pool.
A postmortem confirmed Daithi died from a lack of oxygen to the brain as a result of a prolonged cardiac arrest following immersion in water.
Returning an open verdict, Coroner Aisling Gannon said it was the most appropriate finding due to a lack of information about how Daithi had entered the water.