A Coroner’s Jury returned a verdict of misadventure on 31 May after hearing about circumstances surrounding the death of Dominque Henry McLaughlin last year.
Mr. McLaughlin, better known as Dino, drowned in shallow water on the oceanfront along Sea View Road on 20 April 2006. He was 29.
The inquest was conducted by Queen’s Coroner Nova Hall.
Government pathologist Dr. John Heidingsfelder said Mr. McLaughlin had a seizure disorder for which two medications had been prescribed. He was supposed to take the medicine every night, but the expected amounts of medication that should have been in his system were absent.
Mr. McLaughlin was last seen alive collecting whelks from the ironshore in the vicinity of High Rock. He had gone to the area around 2pm with his best friend, Mr. Handel Bodden.
Mr. Bodden said he walked further down the ironshore from where Dino was picking whelk. After a time, when he looked back, he saw Dino lying face down in a shallow water hole in the ironshore. He called out and ran to him, then grabbed him by the arm and pants leg to pull him over.
Dino didn’t move, so Mr. Bodden ran to a nearby residence for help. The resident called 911 as he ran back to the scene with Mr. Bodden.
Mr. Bodden also said Dino did not complain about being sick before they went to get the whelk.
Family members and friends said Dino began having seizures around the time he turned 13.
The week before he died, he had a seizure at his grandmother’s house. Also that previous week, he asked someone for three dollars to catch a bus so he could get his medication.
The investigating police officer found two bottles of medicine where Dino was staying and they were both full.
In his post mortem report, Mr. John referred to patient treatment reports after earlier incidents.
In January 2006 Dino had a seizure while out on cliff rock. He received multiple wounds to his hands and feet and he sought treatment after some of the wounds became infected.
Mr. John said drowning in very shallow water suggested that Dino was incapacitated. The most likely cause was a seizure.
A seizure on dry land can sometimes be fatal, Mr. John said. But a seizure in a hostile environment such as seawater, or even a bathtub of water, can lead to death from drowning.
In this case, the autopsy showed a lot of fluid in the lungs and foamy material in the windpipe. But the occurrence of a seizure can be difficult if not impossible to detect, Mr. John said.
Other evidence included his finding of no signs of foul play. A juror asked about his report of scratches to the right side of Dino’s face and chest. The pathologist said that was not uncommon in the course of someone being moved.
Dino was known to have used ganja and cocaine, but Mr. John said lab analyses showed no sign of any illicit drug in his system at the time of drowning. Neither was there any alcohol.
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