An inquest into the death of a scuba diver who died off the coast of County Donegal last summer has heard that he suffered a fatal heart attack, but it was due to natural causes and not a diving-related incident.
Patrick Doran, 49, from Carrick-on-Shannon in County Leitrim, died on 22 June 2024 while taking part in a two-day North West Dive Rally organised by the Donegal Bay Sub Aqua Club, in which more than 100 divers were participating at the time.
Evidence heard at the inquest stated that the alarm was raised at around 12.45 pm, after two divers exited the water at Teelin Pier, and one of them had become unresponsive.
Despite efforts to resuscitate him, Doran was pronounced dead at 1.19pm. A man in his 60s, believed to be Doran’s dive buddy, was transferred to Galway University Hospital and treated for suspected decompression sickness.
The hearing was told that emergency responders, including Malin Head Coast Guard, Gardaí, National Ambulance Service personnel and a Rescue 118 helicopter crew, attended the incident.
Doran’s diving equipment was recovered by the Garda Sub Aqua Unit and examined by a diving equipment specialist, who found no faults that could have contributed to the incident.
A post-mortem examination carried out at Sligo University Hospital found no signs of diving-related injuries, but the pathologist reported that Doran had severe coronary artery disease, described as ‘unusually advanced’ for a man of his age.
Coroner Dr Denis McCauley told the court he had concluded that the cause of death was acute myocardial infarction, and that the dive itself was ‘irrelevant’ to Doran’s death.
Dr McCauley said that Doran ‘could have passed away while walking Errigal Mountain or walking along the road’, and recorded a verdict of death by natural causes.
