Man found unresponsive in a large pool of blood
The cause of death of a young man found unresponsive in a large pool of blood near a Luas stop in Dublin around 18 months ago remains a mystery, an inquest has heard, reports Seán McCárthaigh.
Nick Rankin (36), an IT worker with SAP from Saggart, Co Dublin, was pronounced dead at Tallaght University Hospital on August 7, 2024 where he had been brought by ambulance after being discovered on an area of grass near the Luas stop in Saggart.
Paramedics who attended to Mr Rankin at the location where he had been discovered by passers-by documented how they had to suction a “dramatic” amount of blood from his airways.
However, a sitting of Dublin District Coroner’s Court heard a postmortem on the deceased could not establish any source of the bleeding.
The pathologist who carried out the autopsy, Orla Smith, told the hearing she found no evidence that Mr Rankin had been assaulted or struck by either a motor vehicle or a tram.
Dr Walsh said there were no internal abnormalities with Mr Rankin’s organs including his liver that might explain what happened, while she also found no evidence that he had choked on something.
She told the hearing that she had found no blood in the deceased’s gastrointestinal tract.
While Mr Rankin had a small abrasion on his nose, Dr Walsh said she regarded it as “quite superficial.”
Despite extensive internal and external examinations of the body, Dr Walsh concluded that the cause of death was “unascertained.”
While she said such cases were unusual, they are not entirely unknown.
Dr Walsh said there was a possibility that Mr Rankin had suffered sudden adult death syndrome (SADS) as postmortems could not detect electrical abnormalities with the heart.
However, the pathologist pointed out that there is usually no bleeding associated with the condition.
In reply to questions from Mr Rankin’s family, Dr Walsh remarked: “I found no source of the bleeding whatsoever.”
The inquest heard the discovery of valproic acid – which is used to treat epilepsy – in Mr Rankin’s body was a surprise finding as there was no reason why he would have taken it.
However, the coroner, Cróna Gallagher, who adjourned the hearing to consult with an expert with Forensic Science Ireland, said it was likely that the reading was “a false positive.”
The inquest heard that the individual who had alerted the emergency services after finding Mr Rankin in an unresponsive state had not been traced.
Dr Gallagher said she would have liked to have heard evidence from that person as they might have been able to provide information that could have assisted in discovering what actually caused Mr Rankin’s death.
The deceased’s father, Brian Rankin, said he had last spoken to his son earlier that day via Skype when he sounded in fine form.
Mr Rankin, who formally identified his son’s body to gardaí, said he had also seen him the previous evening when he was in good mood as he had learnt he had fully paid off his mortgage.
He gave evidence that his son had put on some weight before his death and was trying to do more walking.
However, Mr Rankin confirmed that his son was not on any medication at the time of his death.
The inquest heard that Mr Rankin, who suffered from Asperger’s Syndrome – a form of autism spectrum disorder – lived on his own with his dog.
He was also the founder of a website dedicated to the collection of Irish phone cards, otherwise known as callcards, which were issued by Telecom Éireann and Eircom and used in public phone boxes
His mother, Deirdre Rankin, told the hearing that her son had not suffered any seizures since he was 15 months old.
Ms Rankin said she had told her son to cut back on the amount of beer he was drinking but otherwise had no concerns about him.
Garda Thomas Doyle said the original report about the incident involving Mr Rankin was about someone choking and struggling to breathe.
However, Garda Doyle gave evidence that there was no evidence of any food found at the location that might indicate Mr Rankin had been choking.
He said there was a large area of “extremely red and fresh blood” at the scene.
Garda Doyle confirmed that there were no eyewitnesses to what had happened to Mr Rankin as he had been found “flat on the ground.”
The inquest heard gardaí were alerted to the scene around 8.40pm, while Mr Rankin was formally pronounced dead at Tallaght University Hospital at 9.59pm.
Based on the evidence, Dr Gallagher said she had to return an open verdict as a postmortem had been unable to determine the cause of Mr Rankin’s death.
“We simply don’t know what happened to him,” the coroner observed.
However, Dr Gallagher said she was satisfied that he had not been assaulted by a third party or been struck by a vehicle.
While SADS remained a possibility, she said it was “far from certain” that was the explanation for Mr Rankin’s death.
The coroner acknowledged that an open verdict would provide “no comfort” for his relatives.
She expressed sympathy to his family and friends and noted the shock of Mr Rankin’s death must have been terrible for them as it was “completely out of the blue.”
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