Ambulance crash led to delays in life-saving treatment for Drumree man

Drumree woman Josephine Walsh, wife of the late Drumree and Meath footballer, Jimmy Walsh, last week reached a settlement after she sued the HSE and the National Ambulance Service following the death of her husband in September 2017.

The 74 year-old died of a heart attack while being transported to hospital, after the ambulance he was in crashed into a toll plaza barrier on the M3 motorway at Dunboyne.

The High Court heard that this led to an “inexcusable” delay in getting father-of-six James Walsh to hospital.

The court heard he became breathless and panicky after the toll plaza crash which exacerbated his extremely serious condition, where he was being brought to hospital suffering from chest pains.

Senior counsel Dr John O’Mahony with Harold Brooks BL told the court the ambulance went on the incorrect lane at the M3 Blackbull Toll Plaza and crashed into the toll barrier.

The ambulance had to reverse out of the lane and another ambulance had to be called.

There was, counsel said, an “unnecessary and inordinate delay” because Mr Walsh’s ambulance crew had to wait for a second ambulance to arrive.

Mr Walsh’s wife was in the ambulance with her husband when he was in a dire and critical condition.

“The big mistake was that the first ambulance did not continue to hospital after the crash. If it had, Mr Walsh would have arrived at the Mater Hospital, Dublin, in a timely manner and life-saving measures would have been carried out,” counsel said.

Liability was admitted in the case. The terms of the settlement are confidential.

It was admitted that the collision with the Toll Plaza outside Dunboyne, Co Meath, on September 29, 2017, and consequential delay prevented Mr Walsh’s timely arrival at the Mater Hospital where, on the balance of probabilities, he would have received life-saving treatment.

It was alleged Mrs Walsh, who was in the ambulance when the collision occurred, feared for her own life and her husband’s life when the collision occurred and has suffered post-traumatic stress disorder and suffers flashbacks. Noting the settlement and distribution of the solatium, which in this case is €35,000, Mr Justice Coffey extended his sympathy to the family. The judge said it was a tragic case where Mrs Walsh’s husband was only moments away from having his life saved.

In court, a letter was read out from the National Ambulance Service which offered its sincere apologies to Mrs Walsh and her family for the circumstances surrounding her husband’s death.

Mr Justice Paul Coffey extended his sympathy to Mrs Walsh and her family.