‘I couldn't let go of his hand, I didn't want to leave him' – Man died in tyre explosion
A 50-year-old Co Roscommon man died instantly from a 'catastrophic' brain injury when the tyre of a farmyard trailer exploded while he was using an arc welder to repair the wheel rim, an inquest was told today.
Patrick McCrann, who lived at Sheepwalk, Frenchpark, was repairing a wheel on a trailer which was used to bring turf from the bog to his parent's home when the tragedy occurred on July 18, 2024.
An inquest into Mr McCrann's death was conducted this afternoon in Ballaghaderreen Courthouse by the Coroner for Roscommon, Brian O'Connor.
Garda Denise Casserley told the hearing how following a report of a tyre explosion, she attended the scene and found the body of the deceased lying in a small shed in a farmyard having sustained a traumatic brain injury.
The force of the explosion had blown a hole in the roof of the shed, Garda Casserley explained.
Last rites were administered at the scene by Fr Joseph Gavigan and the body was identified to Garda Casserley by Kevin McCrann, a brother of the deceased.
Kevin McCrann, in a deposition read to the inquest by Garda Courts Presenter, Sergeant Pat O'Malley explained he was in reading a letter in his sitting room when he heard an explosion.
In his deposition, Mr McCrann continued: 'I didn't panic. I walked down the yard. I saw Pat's van reversed in towards the shed. The back door of the van was open. As I approached the van I knew something was wrong.
I entered the shed and I saw Pat and I knew he was dead.
'I knew the extent of his injuries were fatal.
'I couldn't let go of his hand and I didn't want to leave him'.
Patrick McCrann
News in 90 Seconds - Thursday, July 3
Dr Caroline Brodie, Consultant Pathologist at University College Hospital Galway, disclosed that the cause of death was 'catastrophic traumatic injury'.
Responding to the coroner, she said that death would have been instantaneous.
The circumstances of the tragedy were investigated by Kay Baxter, an Inspector with the Health and Safety Authority (HSA).
In her report, which she read to today's hearing, Ms Baxter said Mr McCrann had been repairing a wheel rim with a tyre in situ in a shed in his parent's farmyard using an arc welder.
'The air in the tyre expanded with the heat from the weld and the tyre was forced off the wheel rim in an explosive fashion and was propelled through the roof of the shed landing in the concrete yard outside', Ms Baxter continued.
She added: 'The resultant blast and impact with the tyre caused fatal head injuries (to the deceased)'.
In her Report, Ms Baxter described Mr McCrann as an an experienced tyre fitter who had been in business for more than 30 years.
Recording a verdict of accidental death, the coroner said the deceased was well known as an obliging person who went out to assist people and to lose him in such tragic circumstances was very difficult for the family and the local community.
Sergeant O'Malley, on behalf of An Garda Síochána, joined the coroner in expressing sympathy with the family of the deceased.
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