Dublin man with seemingly minor head injury died suddenly, inquest told

A young Dublin man, who suffered a brain injury from a fall while out running to raise funds for a charity, died just over 48 hours later after a sudden deterioration in his condition, an inquest has heard.

Conor Cronin (26) hit his head during an unwitnessed fall while out jogging near Dublin City University on Ballymun Road around lunchtime on November 4th, 2020.

The cybersecurity analyst from Walnut Avenue, Drumcondra had been running as a team leader for his workplace, Edgescan, in aid of the men’s health charity, Movember.

An inquest at Dublin District Coroner’s Court on Wednesday heard Mr Cronin died in Beaumont Hospital on November 6th, 2020 following unsuccessful emergency surgery to reduce extreme levels of pressure on his brain.

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It was also informed that Mr Cronin’s family had agreed to donate his organs, as he would have wanted, which had benefited five other patients.

Solicitor for Mr Cronin’s family, Jamie Hart, said the deceased’s relatives were concerned there had been a delay in transferring him to Beaumont from the Mater hospital where he was originally brought after suffering the fall.

However, a consultant neurosurgeon at Beaumont, Ciarán Bolger, said he believed the time of transfer between the two hospitals had made “no difference” as Mr Cronin had already been receiving maximum therapy after his pupils became fixed and dilated without any positive response.

Prof Bolger said Mr Cronin was classified with category 2 injuries which were not deemed to require surgery and would be managed conservatively. However, he said the patient had become unresponsive the following day after which he was transferred to the Mater’s intensive care unit where his condition stabilised.

He said only 2 per cent of category 2 patients ever needed neurosurgery, while only 20 per cent of those with more traumatic head injuries classified as category 3 would ever need surgery.

He observed that the condition of patients with mild head injuries very rarely deteriorated but Mr Cronin’s case was “very unusual”. Prof Bolger said he could not explain why it happened but there were some types of swelling of the brain which could not be reversed.

He described the death of Mr Cronin as “particularly tragic”, adding: “It affected all of us.”

He told the inquest that it was a death known as “talk and die” syndrome whereby someone with a relatively minor head injury, who appears to be fine, dies suddenly.

In reply to questions from Mr Hart, he said 12 calls made between the two hospitals about Mr Cronin’s care was unusual for a category 2 patient. While he agreed that staff at the Mater seemed anxious to get the patient transferred to Beaumont, Prof Bolger said that was true for all hospitals with patients with brain injuries.

The deceased’s brother, Ciarán Cronin, told coroner Clare Keane that his late brother was in extremely good condition, despite being diagnosed with diabetes as a child, and was always working out and exercising.

The witness said he travelled to the Mater and got to speak to his brother for 10 minutes before he was admitted to the emergency department after being alerted about the fall by a paramedic.

He said he went into work the following day as he did not believe his brother was “in a life or death situation”. Mr Cronin described his brother as “great fun and a lovely person” and “was just getting into the prime of his life”.

The inquest was attended by a large group of family and friends of the deceased, including his girlfriend Eavan Atkinson.

The hearing was adjourned and will resume on Thursday.