Family tell of pain at grandad dying on his way home from the shops
THE family of a Dublin grandfather who died after having a heart attack while walking home in the snow thanked their community for doing everything they could to help him.
Tony Nolan (61) was making his way from the shops across Killinarden Park in Tallaght towards his home on Donomore Avenue at lunchtime on Sunday when he collapsed.
Mr Nolan’s family said Tallaght suffered incredible negative attention after a Lidl shop in the area was looted and then demolished with a digger on Friday night.
However, they want to stress they received nothing but kindness, concern and Trojan help when he collapsed.
“Tallaght got a bad name on Friday night, but we only saw good when we needed it most,” said his grieving wife Ann.
Mr Nolan’s step-daughter Emma said the response from locals was so different to that portrayed of the area in the aftermath of the Lidl robbery.
“The Tallaght community was blasted on social media, and what happened at Lidl was unreal,” she said.
“I couldn’t believe it. It was like something from a war zone. But that does not represent Tallaght.”
Ann also wanted to correct information the family had seen which suggested that the reason an ambulance couldn’t get close to Mr Nolan, a father-of-seven, was because it was being pelted with stones and snowballs by local youths.
“That is simply not the case,” she said.
Going back to Sunday morning, Ann said they had been coping with the snow like any other family.
“Tony was a walker. He would walk his dog Coco three or four times a day, and he went to the shops to get some things,” she told the Irish Independent.
“He went to Dunnes in The Square, and when he was walking home through the park he just collapsed.
“There was a local man walking behind him, and a couple nearby taking photographs, and they rushed to him. The man immediately started CPR on Tony and he was there for around 45 minutes before the ambulance crew got to him.
“Other people came out and brought blankets.
“Everyone helped as best they could, and I will always remember that. It brings me comfort.
“Two ambulances arrived, but they could only get as far as the shops, and then some of the locals helped them carry their equipment up to Tony, and helped bring Tony and the equipment back to the ambulance.
“The roads were shocking, I really think more should have been done to clear them.”
Mr Nolan’s step-daughter Ruby said that even if an ambulance could get straight to him, he probably would not have survived anyway.
Sean Cullen, who performed CPR on Mr Nolan, said he saw him fall about 20ft in front of him and that he was unconscious from the outset.
“I started CPR and then two more people helped me and we alternated with breaths and compressions,” Mr Cullen said.
“I was giving CPR from 12.45pm until 1.30pm, but I don’t think there was anything could be done for Tony, but you don’t stop trying,” he explained.
A spokesperson for South Dublin County Council said there were no access problems for emergency services on Sunday and they were able to attend the incident within 10 minutes of call out. “The council was able to plough the ring road around Killinarden Heights on both Saturday and Sunday.”