Teenager who drowned in Co Monaghan lake was ‘afraid of the water’, inquest told

A teenager who died in a drowning incident in Co Monaghan two years ago was “afraid of the water”, an inquest has heard.

Adam McCormick (14), from Cabra, Threemilehouse, was pronounced dead at Children’s Health Ireland at Temple Street, Dublin on July 26th, 2021, after getting into difficulty while swimming with friends at Holywood Lake near Scotstown a day earlier.

Pathologist Michael McDermott told Dublin District Coroner’s Court that Adam’s injuries were consistent with accounts from eyewitnesses who said he was submerged under water for more than five minutes before a prolonged period of attempts to resuscitate him.

Dr McDermott said Adam also suffered a prolonged out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, which had a high mortality rate.

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The inquest heard that significant interventions by medical staff failed to halt a deterioration in Adam’s condition and he died around 23 hours after being taken from the water. Dr McDermott attributed the cause of death to a lack of oxygen and blood to the brain, which caused multi-organ failure.

The inquest heard that Adam was among a group from whom a garda had confiscated alcohol earlier that day. Blood samples taken to test for alcohol were found to be “unsuitable for analysis”, which Dr McDermott said was regrettable as it meant it was not possible to confirm or rule out whether Adam had consumed alcohol that day.

Not a strong swimmer

Medical notes indicated that alcohol may have been a contributory factor in the incident. However, Adam’s mother, Aoife McCormick, told coroner Aisling Gleeson that her son was not a strong swimmer and was “afraid of the water”.

“I believe that is the main factor in what happened,” said Ms McCormick.

She acknowledged that Adam knew some of the teenagers who had alcohol taken from them but said she did not want anything to be assumed about her son. “He might have been in their company but it doesn’t mean he was part of all that.”

Garda Brian Foley told the inquest he carried out a foot patrol at Holywood Lake on July 25th, 2021 and found a group of teenagers who had large quantities of alcohol. He said he made them pour out the alcohol in his presence and instructed them to move along.

Garda Foley said he left the area but then received a call soon afterwards alerting him to concerns that a youth was drowning. He told the coroner he had no interaction with Adam and there was no evidence to indicate the boy had consumed alcohol.

In a written submission, another teenager said someone was celebrating their 17th birthday on the day and everybody was “in good form” with some of the extended group drinking.

Waving hands

The teenager recalled that Adam had been playing a game before he and a group of friends decided they would jump into the water. He said he and other onlookers initially thought Adam was “messing” when he started waving his hands in the water.

The inquest heard someone went to help him but Adam was unable to hold on. Another boy also got into difficulty but was able to get out of the water.

Conor Cahill, who had gone to the lake with his son, said he became aware of a group of young people, some of whom had been drinking, being visibly distressed at around 4.20pm. He grabbed a ringbuoy and jumped in the water.

He said visibility in the water was poor and he did not find Adam until around his fifth attempt at diving down. He said he struggled for around 40 seconds to bring the unresponsive teenager to the surface. Mr Cahill and Marion McCormack, a nurse who was at the lake with her children, performed CPR on Adam until paramedics arrived.

Returning a verdict of accidental death, the coroner said she was satisfied there was corroborating evidence from a number of witnesses about what had happened at the lake.