Farmer died from 16-foot fall while accessing bales of hay on his farm, inquest hears
A sitting of Dublin District Coroner’s Court heard that married father of four Kevin Skelly had been discovered by one of his children on the ground in the farmyard near their family home on the evening of March 28, 2022
A Longford farmer suffered fatal head injuries after falling 16 feet to the ground while accessing bales of hay in a shed two years ago, an inquest has heard.
Kevin Skelly, 53, died at Beaumont Hospital in Dublin on May 9, 2022 from injuries he had sustained six weeks earlier on his farm at Carrickboy, Co Longford.
A sitting of Dublin District Coroner’s Court on Thursday heard the married father of four had been discovered by one of his children on the ground in the farmyard near their family home on the evening of March 28, 2022.
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In a statement provided to the coroner, Mr Skelly’s son, Joseph, said he had returned from visiting a neighbour with his mother at around 6.30pm that evening. Sometime later, he went to a shed in the farmyard and found his father lying face down on the ground.
The boy, who did not give oral evidence, said his father was not making any noise. He said there was no response from his father when he tried to shake him and ask him questions. The boy said he turned his father over to get his mobile phone to dial 999 after the battery on his own phone died while he was trying to call the emergency services.
The inquest heard Mr Skelly had dried blood on his head, while his son also noticed some blood and vomit on the ground a few feet away. The boy said he stayed with his father until an ambulance arrived but the victim’s eyes had remained closed and his breathing was heavy.
The deceased’s wife, Catherine Skelly, gave evidence that she had last seen her husband at 7am that morning. She recalled rushing home after being alerted by the emergency services to an incident at the family farm.
Ms Skelly said her husband had a black eye on his right eye and was moving his arms while lying on the ground. The inquest heard the farmer was given oxygen by paramedics before being transported by air ambulance to Beaumont Hospital in Dublin.
In response to questions from the coroner, Clare Keane, Ms Skelly said her husband’s general health was good. She said her family were not totally sure what happened to him but they assumed he had a fall while using a ladder to access some bales of hay in a shed.
Garda Philip O’Keeffe from Edgeworthstown Garda station said the investigation into the farmer’s death had concluded that he had hit his head on concrete and failed to regain consciousness after an unwitnessed fall.
A report by the Health and Safety Authority into the incident also concluded that Mr Skelly, while possibly using a ladder, had fallen from a height as there was evidence a bale of hay had been disturbed. The inquest heard that the deceased also had some symptoms of arthritis in his knees.
Dr Keane said a post-mortem showed Mr Skelly had died as a result of the severe head injuries he had suffered in the fall on his farm. The coroner said there was some evidence of scarring of the tissue in his heart muscle, which is known to cause an irregular heartbeat.
Returning a verdict of accidental death, Dr Keane said it could not be ruled out that the farmer might have experienced some cardiac incident or some problem with his knee which caused him to fall but the answer would remain unknown.
A witness from the HSA told another inquest earlier this year that seven people have been killed over a 10-year period as a result of accidents involving bales of hay and silage. HSA inspector, Catriona Glancy, said it was well known in the farming community that freshly-baled bales of hay are prone to move and shift quite suddenly.
The inquest heard the HSA had updated guidelines in November 2020 as a result of the death of an elderly farmer in Ardee, Co Louth, who had suffered fatal injuries after being knocked over by a bale of hay which became loose while being stacked in a shed.
The latest guidelines recommend that round bales of hay should only be stacked to a maximum height of three bales and to a maximum of two for bales that are not very soft or dense.
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