A doctor has described how a young father-of-two was unlucky to have suffered fatal injuries after he fell between 8 and 12 feet from a roof while repairing a chimney.
Pathologist Dr Gerry O’Dowd said many other people had survived after falling from greater heights than tragic Michael Carr.
Mr Carr, 37, suffered serious head injuries when he fell while completing work on a house at Falcarragh, on April 5th last year.
Dr O’Dowd said that the roofer may have banged his head off a window sill as he fell from a height.
Michael, described by Gardai as a “real gentleman”, had been working with three other men at the home of Noreen McGarvey at Ray, Falcarragh when the accident happened.
Fellow worker Colm Coyle said he left Michael sweeping off ridge tiles from the scaffolding beside the roof while he went to the front of the house.
He then heard what he thought was a ladder shaking and then a bang and rushed around the front to find Michael on the ground.
“I asked Michael if he was messing but then I realised what had happened. I shouted to the others that there had ben an accident and to call 999. There was blood pouring out of Michael’s nose and we threw jackets over him to keep him warm,” said Colm.
An ambulance and a doctor arrived and Michael, from Derryconnor, Falcarragh, was rushed to Letterkenny University Hospital but he passed away a number of hours later.
Fighting back tears, Michael’s wife Louise told the court that she had formally identified her husband’s body after she had sat at his beside before he passed away.
Dr O’Dowd said he performed an autopsy on Mr Carr and found that he had a fractured skull.
He said his death was due to a “severe head injury consistent with a fall from a height.”
Other evidence given on behalf of Health and Safety Authority Inspector Greg Murphy said that upon inspection the scaffolding was incomplete and there was no evidence of a handrail on the scaffolding which had been erected.
Coroner Dr Denis McCauley said it was impossible to tell if Mr Carr had been on the roof or on the scaffolding before he fell to his death.
He added “Maybe the safety of scaffolding was not as good as they could have been but this was an accidental death. We don’t know if Michael was doing anything that was risky.”
He returned a finding of accidental death and expressed his condolences with Mr Carr’s widow Louise.