An elderly Laois woman suffered fatal burns from running hot water which spilled over the top of a bath after she had suffered a fall in her bathroom on the day she was due to attend her partner’s funeral.
Maura Templey, 86, of Killimy, Emo, Co Laois, died at St James’s Hospital in Dublin on 30 November 2022 – six days after she was discovered on the floor of the bathroom in her home by her brother.
Anthony Byrne told an inquest into his sister’s death at Dublin District Coroner’s Court that he became concerned about her after she had not shown up in the chapel where her late partner’s funeral was being held on the morning of 24 November 2022.
Mr Byrne said he let himself in with a key he had for his sister’s home after she failed to answer the door when he called to her house after the funeral.
The witness said he and a friend found Ms Templey dressed in her nightgown lying on the floor of her bathroom between the bath and the toilet.
While alert, Mr Byrne said his sister was very distressed and sore and did not want them to touch her.
He told the coroner, Aisling Gannon, that he was unaware at the time that she had suffered burns.
Mr Byrne said water was flowing out over the top of the bath but it was cold “at that stage.”
He described how the bath’s plughole was blocked by a toilet roll, while several other items were also in the bath.
Mr Byrne said his sister had not been able to communicate any details about what had happened to her.
The inquest heard that the deceased had suffered 22% burns to her entire back, two shoulders and her right forearm.
Mr Byrne said he had contacted the emergency services but they had to wait four hours before an ambulance arrived at his sister’s home.
He told Ms Gannon that when he rang 999 a second time, he was informed that the ambulance crew due to attend to Ms Templey had been diverted away to another emergency.
The inquest heard the patient was brought to the Midlands Regional Hospital in Portlaoise before she was transferred to the burns’ unit in St James’s Hospital in Dublin later that evening.
Mr Byrne said he was not concerned about his sister at the time but was informed by a doctor the following day that she had suffered severe burns and it was “very unlikely she was going to make it.”
Written statements provided to the coroner by medical staff show she was prescribed IV fluids as she was considered not well enough to undergo surgery.
Dr Asim Rafiq, a consultant in emergency medicine at the MRH in Portlaoise, said Ms Templey was disoriented on admission to the hospital and noted she had been unable to get up after she had fallen in her bathroom.
Dr Rafiq noted that she had probably been on the floor for a number of hours before she had been found at around 1pm.
A consultant in plastic surgery at St James’s Hospital, Prof Odhran Shelley, estimated that she had been lying on the floor of the bathroom for approximately four hours.
The inquest heard Ms Templey developed multi-organ failure and was pronounced dead at 1.55pm on 30 November 2022.
The coroner observed that it was unclear how well the deceased had been able to engage with medical staff about what had happened to her.
Ms Gannon noted that the results of a post-mortem examination showed no evidence that Ms Templey had suffered any cardiac event or stroke that would have caused her to fall.
She observed that it was unclear whether the deceased had either taken a bath or was preparing for one.
The autopsy determined the cause of death as multiple organ failure due to burns.
The coroner said congestive heart failure was a contributory but not causal factor in the patient’s death.
Returning an open verdict, Ms Gannon said it was simply not possible to say definitively what had happened due to “gaps in our knowledge” and offered her condolences to Ms Templey’s relatives.
