A SISTER of the award-winning author Christopher Nolan has paid tribute to her parents whom she called “absolute heroes” for affording her brother the opportunities to have a wonderful life for 43 years.
Christopher Nolan (43), Fairwinds, Shelmartin Road, Sutton, Dublin, was pronounced dead at Beaumont Hospital, Dublin, on February 20th last having collapsed at home the previous evening while eating.
Nolan, who had cerebral palsy from birth, published a volume of poems and short stories entitled Dam Burst of Dreams in 1981 when he was 15. He went on to write an autobiography, Under the Eye of the Clock, which was published when he was 22 and was awarded the Whitbread Book of the Year in 1988, the same year he was named Person of the Year. His novel The Banyan Tree was published to critical acclaim in 1999.
His sister Yvonne Nolan paid tribute to her parents, Bernadette and Joseph Nolan, at an inquest into his death heard at Dublin City Coroner’s Court yesterday.
“Without my parents’ input into Christopher’s life, he wouldn’t have had 43 years. He wouldn’t have had three years,” she said.
She said her parents had afforded Christopher opportunities to have a wonderful life.
“They are absolute heroes to provide Christy with the quality of life he had for 43 years,” she said.
Dublin City Coroner’s Court heard that Nolan, who continued to write up to his death, was in good form on February 19th and was waiting to hear the names of the people in the “Golden Circle” in Anglo Irish Bank on the radio.
Bernadette Nolan was giving her son diced smoked salmon, his favourite food, when she noticed a strange look on his face.
“I asked him if he was okay, but he didn’t reply. The colour had drained from his face and there was no sign of life,” she said. “When I looked at him he was unconscious and the life was gone out of his eyes,” she said.
Mrs Nolan attempted to assist her son, who had a long-standing swallow problem due to his condition, by hitting him on the back, but to no avail. She then contacted his GP, Dr Mark Holmes, who attempted to resuscitate him.
When the emergency services arrived, they managed to start Mr Nolan’s heart again and he was rushed by ambulance to Beaumont Hospital.
At that stage Mrs Nolan feared the worst. “You don’t look after a person like Christy for 43 years and not see that it’s hopeless,” she told the inquest.
Coroner Dr Brian Farrell recorded a cause of death of brain damage due to a heart attack as a result choking. His cerebral palsy had caused a swallow problem for many years, the inquest heard.