A Co Roscommon man (50) died instantly from a “catastrophic” brain injury when the tyre of a farmyard trailer exploded while he was using an arc welder to repair the wheel rim, an inquest was told on Wednesday.
Patrick McCrann, who lived at Sheepwalk, Frenchpark, was repairing a wheel on a trailer that was used to bring turf from the bog to his parents’ home when the tragedy occurred on July 18th last.
An inquest into Mr McCrann’s death was conducted on Wednesday afternoon in Ballaghaderreen Courthouse by the coroner for Roscommon, Brian O’Connor.
Garda Denise Casserley told the inquest how following a report of a tyre explosion she found the body of the deceased lying in a small shed in a farmyard.
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The force of the explosion had blown a hole in the roof of the shed, Garda Casserley said.
Kevin McCrann, a brother of the deceased, in a deposition read to the inquest, explained he was reading a letter in his sittingroom when he heard an explosion.
In his deposition, Mr. McCrann continued: “I didn’t panic. I walked down the yard. I saw Pat’s van reversed in towards the shed. The back door of the van was open. As I approached the van I knew something was wrong.
“I entered the shed and I saw Pat and I knew he was dead.”
Dr Caroline Brodie, consultant pathologist at University College Hospital Galway, said the cause of death was “catastrophic traumatic injury” and would have been instantaneous.
The circumstances of the tragedy were investigated by Kay Baxter, an inspector with the Health and Safety Authority.
In her report, which she read to the hearing, Ms Baxter said Mr McCrann had been repairing a wheel rim with a tyre in situ in a shed in the farmyard using an arc welder.
“The air in the tyre expanded with the heat from the weld and the tyre was forced off the wheel rim in an explosive fashion and was propelled through the roof of the shed landing in the concrete yard outside,” Ms Baxter continued.
She added: “The resultant blast and impact with the tyre caused fatal head injuries (to the deceased).”
Ms Baxter described Mr McCrann as an experienced tyre fitter who had been in business for more than 30 years.
Recording a verdict of accidental death, the coroner said the deceased was well known as an obliging person who went out to assist people and to lose him in such tragic circumstances was very difficult for the family and the local community.
