A nine-year-old boy was found by his father hanging from his bunk bed by his scarf, an inquest in Galway heard.
Jamie Stone, Corrach Buí, Rahoon, had returned from a friend's birthday party a short time before the accident occurred, on the evening of Saturday, April 8th.
The inquest heard the child had gone upstairs to play in his bedroom while his mother, Carmel, prepared his tea downstairs.
Ten minutes later, when he did not answer after being called, his father Stephen found him hanging by his scarf, which was caught on the bedpost. He immediately took him down, started cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and called downstairs to his wife to call an ambulance.
The boy's mother, Carmel, a trained nurse, took over the CPR until the ambulance arrived and took him to University College Hospital Galway.
After more than an hour of CPR at the A&E, he was moved to the intensive care unit, where he never regained consciousness and died on April 29th when he was taken off a ventilator.
The inquest heard that Jamie's scarf was usually left on the end of the bed and it was likely that he had been on the top bunk playing with toy cars before the accident.
Coroner for Galway West, Dr Ciarán McLoughlin, said it was possible the child jumped or fell off the bunk bed, thinking the scarf would uncoil but tragically it did not.
Dr McLoughlin said it only took seconds for a person to lose consciousness and the ability to save oneself or even cry for help.
Kevin Dunne, a consultant paediatrician, said that following 21 days on a ventilator, it was decided to take Jamie off as there was CAT scan evidence that he had severe brain injury and that it was unlikely he would regain an independent life.
Dr Dunne described it as an unfortunate accident but added that boys got involved in these activities all the time and he remembered swinging off a rope when he was the same age, but was thankfully rescued by his mother.
Dr John Connolly, consultant pathologist, said there had been evidence of extensive brain cell death, similar to that of a stroke, and it was as a result of the accident.
Dr McLoughlin said it had been a very tragic accident. "What started out as a very happy day for a party-going child suddenly turned into a nightmare," he said.
He recorded a verdict of cardio respiratory failure associated with irreversible brain damage due to an accident.
