Snorkeller's death was caused by heart condition
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This is a digitised version of an article from The Cayman Compass's print archive. Occasionally, the digitisation process introduces transcription errors, or other problems.
See the article in its original context from May 1995.
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Dr. Obafunwa was giving evidence about his post mortem report on Mr. Paul Edward Gage, a tourist who died on 26 February 1995.
Mr. Gage, 77, was visiting Cayman from Pennsylvania with his wife. The couple joined other tourists aboard an excursion vessel for a trip to Stingray City. They arrived there around 11:15 am.
Mr. Gage entered the water to snorkel while his spouse remained on board. At about 11:30 am, the boat captain spotted Mr. Gage floating face down in the water. The maximum depth in that area was five to six feet. (Mr. Gage was about 5'8" tall.)
The captain immediately approached Mr. Gage, put a life jacket around him and moved him to the boat where he began administering cardiopulmonaryresuscitation (CPR). According to witness statements read by Queen's Coroner Mr. Peter Jackson, two women trained in CPR were present who could assist.
A distress call was sent to a watersports operation at Morgan's Harbour at 11:55 am. Mr. Gage was transferred to a speed boat and brought to Morgan's Harbour at 12:30, where an ambulance team was waiting to take over management of the situation. The team continued resuscitation efforts, but there was no response and Mr. Gage was pronounced dead around 12:45 pm.
Past medical history indicated Mr. Gage had suffered a stroke in the latter part of 1991. His medication included what appeared to be anticoagulants. Dr. Obafunwa said his examination showed no drugs or alcohol were involved. The presence of a lot of fluid in the lungs indicated drowning, but why?
the doctor asked. He explained that the sudden failure of Mr. Gage's heart could be shown by the dilation of the heart valves and pooling of blood.
The deceased had suffered from a chronic inflammation of the myocardium (the middle muscular layer of the heart wall). The mechanism of death in cases of chronic myocarditis is believed to be due to irregular rhythms in the heart beat and other forms of disturbance to the electrical conduction pathway.
Mr. Jackson observed that drowning is usually considered to be misadventure.
"If he didn't suffer that natural process [described above], he wouldn't have "drowned," Dr. Obafunwa said of the deceased. Being in the water could have been an added stress for Mr. Gage, the pathologist agreed, but equally, Mr. Gage could have suffered this sudden heart failure on land.
In summing up evidence, Mr. Jackson noted that lots of people were in the water enjoying themselves at the time of this incident. There was a 12-knot easterly wind and seas with a chop of one to one and a half feet. Conditions were safe for snorkelling. Conditions become unsafe when winds reach 18 knots.
The jury unanimously agreed that death was by natural causes.
