Limerick guy drowned upon getting ‘snagged’ on automobile whilst swimming

A FATHER OF one drowned after turning into “snagged” on an automobile that has been submerged within the river Shannon, gardaí advised an inquest into the man’s demise the previous day.

Christopher ‘Kippy’ Leo, elderly forty-four, from Cliona Park, Moyross, had gone for a swim at Brown’s Quay, Limerick, while he was given caught on the automobile, Limerick Coroner’s Court heard.

“It is in a place recognized for joyriding. The vehicle may additionally be pushed in or pushed in,” Garda Alan Dowling, Mayorstone Park garda station, advised the inquest.

Eric Woodland from Dalglish Park, Moyross, instructed the hearing he and Christopher Leo, who were friends, had gone for a walk on 30 June 2018 and stopped for relaxation close to the riverbank.

“We were sitting down playing the solar. It turned into a roasting, warm day. Ann Harvey and her daughters have been paddling inside the river, and Christopher said to me he was going to ‘display-off’ for the kids,” Woodland told gardai.

“He went in, and he went down…abruptly. He became long gone below for approximately a minute and a half, I got worried. I asked Ann to ring the rescue crowd.”

Woodland stated Christopher Leo “had one or liquids that day. However, he wasn’t drunk”.

Limerick City and County Fire and Rescue Service were dispatched to the scene and fast positioned the man’s body underwater.

“The Fire Service rescue [boat] located him snagged underwater in an automobile,” Garda Dowling said.

Ann Harvey from Cosgrave Park, Moyross, stated in a deposition, examine out using Garda Inspector Dermot O’Connor of Henry Street Garda Station, that Leo becomes initially “doping up and down” within the water.

She said she notion he changed into “handiest messing” while he didn’t resurface. She rang the emergency services and efforts to resuscitate Christopher Leo failed.

John Leo informed the inquest he identified his brother’s frame later at University Hospital Limerick (UHL).

Dr. Gabor Laskai, a pathologist at UHL, stated demise changed into resulting from “asphyxiation because of drowning.” He said toxicology assessments discovered “low stages” of Xanax and alcohol in Christopher Leo’s gadget.

He cited the publish mortem examination discovered a “concurrent use of alcohol, an antidepressant; anti-epileptic; antihistamines medicines” which blended would have ended in “a multiplied threat of accident” as well as a possible “loss of coordination.”

Limerick Coroner, Dr. John McNamara remarked: “It moves me as very uncommon there was a car in (the river), but that is what seems to have snagged Christopher below the water.”

Recording a verdict of “misadventure,” Dr. McNamara stated low blended stages of alcohol and drugs might also have affected Mr. Leo’s “coordination and potential to react.”