A night out with friends ended in tragedy for a young social worker who collapsed and died in a nightclub after drinking a toxic amount of alcohol, an inquest heard yesterday.
Annette Lawlor (22) of Riverforest, Leixlip, Co Kildare, was with her cousin and her friend in Spirit nightclub on Middle Abbey Street, Dublin, in the early hours of October 2nd, 2006, when she died, Dublin City Coroner's Court heard.
Ms Lawlor was rushed by ambulance to the Mater hospital where she was pronounced dead at 3.40am after prolonged resuscitation attempts.
A subsequent postmortem revealed that Ms Lawlor died from alcohol poisoning.
She had 311mgs per cent of alcohol in her blood at the time of her death.
Coroner Dr Brian Farrell told the court that anything over 300mgs per cent of alcohol in the blood is a potentially toxic level for females. Anything over 350mgs per cent is a potentially toxic level for men and he said the cause of Ms Lawlor's death was alcohol toxicity.
"It seems this was a night out in Leixlip and Spirit nightclub, which resulted in death. It is so tragic. Annette seems to have been enjoying a night out and then seemed to just gradually collapse near the dance floor," said Dr Farrell.
Ms Lawlor began her night out in O'Neill's pub in Leixlip with friends, including one of her best friends Laura Hughes .
The group had about nine drinks each and Ms Lawlor then decided to go into town and meet her cousin, Paula O'Sullivan, to go dancing. Ms Hughes accompanied Ms Lawlor to the bus stop and she took the bus into town at approximately 11.45pm.
Ms Lawlor met Paula O'Sullivan and her friend Jacinta Casey in the Traffic pub on Middle Abbey Street after midnight and the group then proceeded to Spirit nightclub, where they drank numerous vodkas and Red Bulls each. Ms O'Sullivan told the inquest that the last time she saw Annette she was dancing and talking to a man on the dance floor. Ms Casey then went outside for a cigarette.
A former member of staff at Spirit, Ian Lynch, told the court that he was out in the nightclub on the night in question and he saw three or four people take a girl from the dance floor and put her in a chair. "She was lapsing in and out of consciousness and had sick coming out of her mouth."
The paramedic employed at Spirit nightclub on the night, John McCarton, told the court he received a call to go to the bar at 2.45am because a girl had collapsed.
"She wasn't breathing and her pulse was weak. Her eyes were fixed and dilated. I administered CPR for seven to 10 minutes until Dublin Fire Brigade ambulance arrived," he told the court.
Dr Farrell expressed his condolences to Ms Lawlor's father Michael, who was in court yesterday, and to her mother Anne and to her brother and sister.