Kerry rally in which driver died ‘should not have taken place’, inquest hears

The family of a man who died when the car he was driving veered off a track at a rally and overturned in a flooded stream have thanked the vehicle’s navigator for his repeated attempts to save their loved one’s life. An inquest at Cork Coroner’s Court heard that co-driver and navigator Daniel O’Brien made several bids to free Eoin McCarthy (22) from the car in the wake of the incident at the Killarney Forestry Rally on February 20th, 2022. O’Brien told the inquest he had struggled to assist McCarthy as “the water was brown like oxtail soup ... you could not see your hand in front of your face”.The incident occurred at Stage 4 of the rally as the car drove towards a narrow bridge that had no railings. READ MOREBarrister Derek Ryan extended his heartfelt thanks to O’Brien on behalf of the McCarthy family for his assistance to their son. O’Brien told the inquest that McCarthy was driving at a speed of just 15km/h when the incident occurred. He said the Honda Covic car was driving between bales when its left wheel slid off the track. It tipped forward and then slowly overturned into the water below. He said he and McCarthy had planned to take part in the rally championships together, with Killarney being their first joint event. O’Brien said he was “completely submerged” in the water at one stage. He didn’t feel the cold because he was in so much shock, he said. He said he was able to free himself from the safety harness and tried to open McCarthy’s harness. “I tried to pull him under water. I tried to get a better lifting position. Eoin was stuck. His mouth and nose were submerged.” McCarthy was pulled free from the car by means of a rope and O’Brien carried out CPR. He said at one stage McCarthy coughed in a “raspy” manner. “He gave a rattle cough. I tried to clear his airway. He took two breaths. I didn’t see him breathe again.”Paramedics put McCarthy on a gurney on the river bank and continued to try to save his life.O’Brien said it felt like they were waiting for an ambulance for “a long time”.[ ‘Unreasonable’ landlord who allegedly took photos of tenant’s laundry told to pay damagesOpens in new window ]He said the ambulance he was put into tipped over on to its side and he ended up making the journey to hospital in a Land Cruiser. McCarthy was taken to Cork University Hospital for treatment.O’Brien said he and McCarthy had carried out all the necessary safety checks on the car to make sure it was roadworthy. The inquest also heard evidence from Assistant State Pathologist Dr Margaret Bolster who carried out the postmortem. She said McCarthy died of hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (a global brain injury) due to an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest after he was submerged in water in a suspended state. There was no evidence of significant trauma to the body. McCarthy sustained minor grazes or abrasions to his forehead. She said death would have occurred rapidly, he would have lapsed into unconsciousness and not suffered in any way. Evidence was also given by a marshal at the rally who said that as he drove to the event he didn’t think there was a “hope in hell” of it proceeding due to the heavy rain and stormy conditions. Mark Dolphin, who also competes in rally events, said it was his opinion the rally should have not taken place because of the poor conditions. The inquest continues tomorrow.