Tourist died in Mayo Airbnb stairs fall when checking on crying baby

The woman was holidaying with her family last month

A 35-year-old English woman holidaying with her family in Co. Mayo last month sustained fatal head injuries when she fell down the stairs of an AirBnb after getting out of bed to check on a crying infant, an inquest was told today (Monday).

Jessie Lawrence, with an address at Orchard Way, Stratford on Avon, was rushed to Mayo University Hospital on after falling down stairs at the guest accommodation in Cong where she and her partner, Graeme (Jimmy) Toney and her two daughters, Orlagh and Rhonagh, aged 4 and 6, were staying.

Garda Pat Coen gave evidence to today’s inquest that Ms. Lawrence passed away in the intensive care unit of MUH on August 18 following the fall some days earlier.

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Garda Coen said Mr. Toney told him one of the children had been crying in the night. He heard a shout and the noise of “a tumble” down the stairs.

Ms. Lawrence was found at the bottom of the stairs. The cause of death was given by Dr. Tamas Nemeth, who carried out a post mortem examination, as brain herniation due to traumatic brain injuries.

In a statement to gardai following the tragedy, Graeme Toney said one of his daughters had been crying and he heard Jessie falling down the stairs. “I heard the creak of the banister and the thump on the stairs which really wakened me”, Mr. Toney said in his statement.

He added he then found Jessie lying at the bottom of the stairs, bleeding from the head. He then rang 999. Following the death Gardai carried out an extensive examination of the property where the fall occurred and found no evidence of foul play or third party involvement.

The court heard that a number of Ms. Lawrence’s organs – her liver and kidneys – were donated. After returning a verdict of accidental death, the Coroner for the District of Mayo, Pat O’Connor noted the organ donation stating that it had been a very noble gesture on the part of the deceased’s family.

“It is one of the most noble things a family can agree to do”, the coroner stated. He added: “Words cannot express the worry and trauma for the partner, their children and other family members”. Sergeant Noel Crinnegan, courts presenter for An Garda Siochana, joined in the expression of sympathy to the bereaved family.

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