‘Emaciated’ man refused to accept offers of help
An 85-year-old man who was described as being ‘emaciated’ and like ‘someone who was starving’ refused all offers of help in the years leading up to his death.
James Christie, of Glenboy, Manorhamilton, died on February 11 th 2017 from a blood clot on the right side of his heart with the major contribution factor of malnutrition.
The inquest into his death heard that Mr. Christie declined offers of Housing Aid Grants, alternative accommodation, grants to improve sewerage systems and he refused help from social workers and Dr. Chris Fallon who offered to have him admitted to hospital on several occasions.
Upon examination there was no sign of a psychiatric illness.
In 2009, he turned down offers of home help and in 2012 he weighed just six stone.
A neighbour of Mr. Christie’s, Raymond O’Hagan, told the inquest how he stuck by a very strict diet.
“He had his own diet. He used to take sardines as part of his diet. The funny part was he used to say it took him two hours to take the bones out and it took him two minutes to eat.,” he said.
“He used to eat eggs but when the eggs had been stamped he used to spend hours taking the mark off before eating the egg.
“Along with eating the egg he’d eat the shell as well. That was his diet, and dates and figs and apricots. He had his own specific amount he’d eat. He’d only eat a small bit.
“I brought him potatoes a couple of times but he’d never eat them. The bag would be there for six months.”
He continued: “After Jim’s death I collected a lot of books and articles from his home which clearly shows that he had many books about alternative food as far back as 1975 when he completed a course in health.
“A food receipt dated 1993 shows the type of food that Jim ate, celery, seeds, cider vinegar and are an example of some of the things he included in his diet. Even at that stage he didn’t include any fresh meat, fish or dairy in his diet. He was an extremely specific man and wanted exactly what was on the list.”
The inquest heard that Mr. Christie was once an art and music teacher in the Bahamas. He had also lived in Scotland and Wales, and lived in Dundalk for five years before moving to Dromahair in the early 1990s.
He had no contact with his family for decades and when his family found out he lived in Dundalk he moved.
“He has a brother in Scotland. They weren’t speaking for 30/40 years, I wrote to him and I got a letter back saying that every time they’d try to look up Jim, he’d leave and move and they respected his wishes. When they knew he was in Dundalk he moved,” Mr. O’Hagan said.
“I rang after Jim died. He never wanted me to get in touch with his brother. I rang the day he died and he did tell me that they were two different types of people.”
His house was in a state of disrepair, and he refused to recycle or discard anything. Mr. O’Hagan did all of his shopping in his later years, and brought him The Sunday Times each week.
When Mr. Christie died, there was 18-20 years worth of Sunday Times newspapers in stacks around the house.
Dr. Paul Hartel, who carried out the post-mortem on Mr. Christie’s body told the inquest: “He was in a severe state of malnourishment. He was emaciated and extremely thin. He was like someone who was starving.
“The cause of death was a blood clot on the right side of the heart, with a contributing factor of malnutrition. His liver was not functioning at the usual level, the blood clotting system was not working right and the valves in his heart were quite narrow.”
Dr. Chris Fallon paid tribute to Raymond O’Hagan: “Raymond brought him food and water. Raymond provided great support despite James’ trying behaviour.,” she said.
Coroner Eamonn McGowan delivered an open verdict and said: “The origins were self-inflicted, we don’t know for what reason, he had his own peculiarities. I’m delivering an open verdict. He died from a blood clot with major contributing factor of malnutrition.”