Man drowned despite frantic bid to save him

A 43 years old man, who fell from his boat in Galway Docks, drowned despite almost immediate assistance from passersby, an inquiry into his death heard.

Assistant Coroner for West Galway, Ciaran MacLoughlin Jnr, praised the efforts of the men who tried to rescue the father of two on the afternoon of July 30 last.

Harbour Master, Captain Brian Sheridan, was tending to his own yacht when he noticed a man working on the mast of the boat next to his.

Capt. Sheridan left before 5pm without speaking to the man, whom he had not recognised as Steven Ackland, of 36 Harbour Road, George’s Place, Dublin, known to him as ‘Acky’ – he ran the Galway Maritime shop on Merchant’s Road.

Fortunately, however, Capt. Sheridan stopped to help two separate individuals, and was just leaving the area when he noticed a man in the water.

He told the inquiry that Mr Ackland’s head was above water, but he was obviously in need of assistance. Within a minute of being seen, he was pulled to safety, with the help of another man.

However, despite carrying out CPR on him, Mr Ackland’s life could not be saved, and he was pronounced dead at UHG at 6.04pm.

Consultant pathologist, Dr Mary Casey, could offer no explanation as to how or why Mr Ackland had fallen into the water, however.

She told the inquiry that there was no evidence of a heart attack and there was no evidence of tongue biting, to suggest a seizure.

The only marks were bruising to the back of his scalp, and grazes to his head, but other than that there was no evidence of the brain moving nor intracranial haemorrhage.

She concluded that death was caused by asphyxia, due to drowning.

The assistant coroner then returned a verdict in accordance with the medical evidence, and offered his sympathy to Mr Ackland’s wife, children, and extended family and friends.

“Clearly it was a very tragic accident for such a young man,” he said.