A 50-year-old man choked on a piece of steak while dining at TGI Friday’s restaurant in Dublin, an inquest has heard.
Gerard (Shane) Cribbin had recently returned to Ireland from the USA and was staying with family members at Summerhill in Co Meath. He went to TGI Friday’s on Fleet Street, Temple Bar, Dublin for dinner on March 31st this year, ordering a 12oz steak and a non-alcoholic drink.
General manager at the restaurant Carol Brennan spoke to Cribbin while he was waiting for his food because he looked preoccupied, she said.
“I went over to him and said ‘cheer up, it might never happen,’” she said in her deposition.
Later she saw Cribbin waving his arm in the air and diners at the next table said he needed help and was gagging.
“I asked him was he choking and he nodded yes, the steak was stuck. I slapped him on the back. He continued to make heaving sounds,” she said.
Cribbin stooped over towards the restaurant wall with his left hand on his chest, Ms Brennan said.
She became upset in the witness box at the inquest in Dublin Coroner’s Court as she described trying to help him.
“He stood up and I realised he was a large man and I wouldn’t be able to secure his weight. I started to do double back slaps on him. He leaned back and knuckle rubbed his chest area and at this stage I thought he was having a heart attack.”
The deceased’s brother, Pairic Cribbi, asked Ms Brennan if any staff at the restaurant were trained in first aid. She replied she was trained and had a certificate from the Red Cross.
Linda Scully, a paramedic with Dublin Fire Brigade, said CPR was carried out in the ambulance and staff were waiting for Cribbin’s arrival at St James’s Hospital.
Doctors removed a piece of steak, 7cm at its maximum diameter, from Mr Cribbin’s throat, the court heard. He was pronounced dead early the following morning, April 1st.
A postmortem revealed other large food particles in his stomach. The cause of death was cardiac arrest due to choking.
There was no alcohol present in his system. The autopsy showed moderate coronary heart disease but the coroner, Dr Brian Farrell, said it was not a case of ‘cafe coronary’ where a person chokes as a result of a heart attack while dining.
The coroner returned a verdict of accidental death due to choking and extended his sympathy to family members in court and to Mr Cribbin’s children in the US.