The tragic circumstances of the death of Sarah Mescall, 14, from Kilnamona, Co. Clare, were heard at Dublin District Coroner’s Court yesterday.
At the time of Sarah’s death, it was reported that gardaí were investigating if the incident was linked to a viral challenge on social media. However, no reference was made at the inquest to any role played by social media.
The inquest heard the second-year student at Coláiste Muire in Ennis, Co. Clare, died from irreversible brain damage five days after she became unwell at her family home, where she sniffed the contents of the deodorant.
Pathologist Michael McDermott, who conducted the post-mortem, said that there is a long association between the inhalation of ‘volatile substances,’ such as those containing deodorants, and sudden, unexpected deaths.
Sarah’s mother, Deirdre Mescall, gave evidence of collecting her daughter from a school bus at 4.45 pm on September 20, 2023. She said Sarah had gone to her bedroom as was normal after she had pizza that she had made with her younger sister for dinner.
A teenager suffered fatal brain damage after inhaling the contents of an aerosol.
Ms Mescall said her daughter would have been on her phone but was also preparing to go to the National Ploughing Championships the following day. She said she went upstairs at 5.45 pm to change to bring her other daughter to camogie training when she saw Sarah swaying by the window in her own bedroom.
The inquest heard Sarah appeared drunk when she turned around in response to her mother asking her if she was OK. Ms Mescall recalled: ‘I said, “Sarah what did you do?” And she answered, “Nothing”.’
The witness said she started to panic before her daughter informed her she had inhaled the contents of a female aerosol deodorant that Ms Mescall had bought earlier that day. Ms Mescall said Sarah collapsed onto her husband, Joe, when he arrived in the bedroom after she had called out to him for help.
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She said there was no response when they threw water on their daughter’s face, and Ms Mescall said she also checked for a pulse but could find none. The mother said she started CPR while her husband called for an ambulance.
The inquest heard Sarah was transported by helicopter to University Hospital Limerick and later transferred to Children’s Health Ireland at Temple Street in Dublin by ambulance. A decision was subsequently taken on September 22, 2023, to transfer her to CHI at Crumlin for specialist cardiac care.
Ms Mescall said she only later discovered that her younger daughter, who was seven at the time, had seen Sarah put her head under her school jumper and inhale the deodorant.
The inquest heard Sarah had been a fit and healthy teenager who loved camogie. In reply to questions from coroner Cróna Gallagher, Ms Mescall, who wept openly during the proceedings, said no one had come to her afterwards to say that children had been experimenting with such substances.
Her husband testified that his eldest daughter had been in good form earlier that day. Mr Mescall described how the couple were assisted by two neighbours, Brid Hegarty and Carmel McInerney, who were also nurses while they waited for emergency services.
‘Sarah got every chance but it didn’t work out,’ he observed.
Mr Mescall said doctors at UHL told them that Sarah’s condition was serious but added: ‘We had hoped she would make some sort of recovery.’
A report from a consultant in emergency medicine, Suzanne Crowe, recorded that Sarah had suffered a devastating hypoxic brain injury, which subsequently led to brain stem death.
The inquest heard a post-mortem confirmed Sarah died from a lack of oxygen to the brain and damage to her heart muscle from a cardiac arrest due to the inhalation of a deodorant. Dr Gallagher recorded a verdict of death by misadventure.
* This article was originally published on Extra.ie.
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