Son tells Mayo inquest his father's disappearance from MUH fills him with anger

THE son of a Lahardane man who left his hospital bed in the middle of the night told the inquest into his father's death that he is filled with anger thinking about the events the night his father went missing.

The inquest into the death of Patrick Rowland of Tobernaveen, Lahardane opened in Swinford Courthouse this morning where members of his family including his wife Louisa and son Cormac gave evidence of his condition before he left his bed in Mayo University Hospital in the early hours of January 17, 2023.

The evidence before the Coroner for Mayo, Patrick O'Connor heard that Mr Rowland had been in a confused state and was 'raving' after he was admitted to the hospital on January 15 suffering from pneumonia.

The 69-year-old had spent 42 hours on a trolley in the Emergency Department of Mayo University Hospital and had been telling family members he wanted to go home. His wife Louisa told the inquest that at one stage he told her that the nurses were having a party.

Mr Rowland was eventually given a bed on Ward B at 12.20am on January 17 but approximately 30 minutes later he left the hospital. He phoned his son Cormac at 1.13am telling him he was at the TF Royal Hotel across from the hospital and he was going home.

Cormac Rowland told the inquest that because of his father's confusion at the time he did not know for certain his father was where he said he was. His wife Marcella contacted the hospital looking for confirmation of his whereabouts but it took the hospital staff eleven minutes to eventually tell them their father was not on the ward.

The inquest heard that Cormac Rowland only left the hospital at 12.44am after his father was given a bed and at the time he felt his father was in a good place to recover. He said he had just arrived at his home in Parke when he received a call from his father saying he had left the hospital. He said it was the craziest thing he ever experienced in his life.

“I was scared out of my life and it was the craziest thing I have ever been exposed to in my entire life. I left a man in a hospital bed a half an hour previously and now he is telling me he is outside and at the same time I could not know if he was saying exactly where he was. I had to ask the people who had eyes on the ground and lean on them to help me,” he said, adding that he is still angry that the hospital was not able to tell his wife straight away that his father was not on the ward.

“It was eleven minutes completely wasted. It keeps me awake at night and fills me with anger and it fills me with stress to the detriment of my own health. An opportunity was taken from us. It might have been a small window but whatever chance we had was whipped immediately away and we could not recover from it,” he said.

Cormac, a primary school teacher, explained that while he was on the phone to his father he implored him to go back to the hospital but he replied that he wanted to go home and that 'they're having a party in the hospital'. He said his father told him he was 'heading for main street'.

“I had a grave concern for my father's welfare considering he was being treated for pneumonia and was outside in the cold, frosty weather wearing only a t-shirt, pyjama bottoms and a pair of slippers,” he told the inquest.

While talking to his father, he asked him to go to Market Square and he would collect him. He said his father agreed but told him 'to fuckin hurry up' as he drove past Parke GAA ground. Cormac explained his father never used language like that and it was the last conversation they had together.

“He was in a bad state and he was high pitched and wasn't a man who was in control. He was annoyed because I had taken so long in his eyes to come in for him. I was trying to ascertain other information because I thought he was all over the place.

“That conversation is seared into my memory. I drive past that football pitch every morning and evening on my way and home from school and it's the only thing I think about,” he said.

Marcella Rowland reported her father-in-law missing to Gardaí in Castlebar at 1.25am but they were unable to immediately dispatch a car because one was not available.

Garda Joan Grady told the inquest that while talking to Mrs Rowland she contacted the TF Royal Hotel to see if they had seen a man in pyjamas outside.

Kieran Roache, the night manager in the TF Royal Hotel told the inquest that he saw a man wearing only pyjamas and slippers and knew something wasn't right. He said he was about to call the gardaí when Garda Grady phoned the hotel.

He said he went outside to look for him but could not find him. When they were outside he said he met a member of the security staff and a nurse from the hospital came towards them and he told them the man had gone towards the town.

Members of the Rowland family started to search Castlebar that night and were later joined by many volunteers and members of An Garda Siochána and the Civil Defence along with the Coast Guard helicopter.

An extensive search took place over a number of days in Castlebar when Mr Rowland's slipper was found close to the river on the Newport Road. The search then concentrated on the Castlebar River and on January 19, Mr Rowland's body was discovered at Ballynew, approximately four miles from the centre of Castlebar. The inquest heard that Mr Rowland died as a result of asphyxia due to drowning.

Garda Padraig O'Connor said he looked at CCTV footage from around the town which showed Mr Rowland on Ellison Street at 1.26am. The coverage on Market Square shows him walking towards Newport Road at 1.30am and the last sighting was at 1.32am from the Castlebar Educate Together National School building close to the bridge at the town river.

The Rowland family have expressed concerns regarding the care Patrick Rowland was given in Mayo University Hospital and that he was allowed to leave the hospital. Cormac Rowland also stated that throughout the search for his father nobody from MUH was present or spoke to them.

Roger Murray, senior counsel for the Rowland family, said the family were grateful to the many volunteers and the emergency service who helped search for Patrick after he went missing.

The inquest continues tomorrow with medical staff from Mayo University Hospital to give evidence over the next two days.