A DRIVER WHOSE car veered off track and flipped over into a flooded stream at a forestry rally was submerged underwater for a period of five to six minutes and had a “very poor prognosis” upon his transfer to hospital, an inquest has heard.

Eoin McCarthy (22) of Dunmanway, Co Cork died after the car in which he was driving slid into the water at the Killarney Forestry Rally in Co Kerry amid heavy wind and rain on 20 February 2022.

Dr Fiona Kelly was the chief medical officer on duty at the rally in Castleisland.

McCarthy of Dunmanway, Co Cork was driving in his second ever rally alongside navigator Daniel O’Brien when their car veered off a bridge and ended up upside down on its roof in a stream.

Kelly told the Coroner’s Court in Cork that CPR was carried out on McCarthy at the riverbank when he was taken from the car.

She said that in spite of use of defibrillator and extensive CPR at the scene she felt on the day that his condition was “incompatible with life.” She said that he had been submerged in water without oxygen for a period of five to six minutes.

He was medically evacuated to Cork University Hospital (CUH) and died onsite.

The inquest heard that the expectation was that McCarthy would be transferred to hospital by helicopter from a nearby GAA pitch. He was taken by ambulance to the pitch, but the helicopter subsequently landed at a different location.

Kelly said that the second location was “difficult” to get to in the ambulance. However, ultimately she said that the timing of the transfer and any delays in relation to same wouldn’t have had any impact on the eventual outcome in the case.

She offered her sympathy to the McCarthy family following their loss and told them that Eoin would have not suffered in any way.

“He wouldn’t have been aware of anything that was happening. There was no pain.”

Meanwhile, John Naylor, vice president of Motorsport Ireland, said in evidence that he had no concerns about the weather on the day of the accident.

Witnesses had reported that the forest rally occurred amid heavy wind and a downpour of rain.

Naylor said that a forest rally was a “challenge between the driver and the machine and the elements” and that rain was a normal feature of such an event. He said that the conditions on the day did not in any way justify the cancellation of the rally.

He stated that tracking was in its infancy five years ago. He said that tracking “has gone to a whole different level” in the last 12 months alone.

Barrister for the McCarthy family, Derek Ryan, asked Naylor if he remembered moving a silage bale at the scene of the accident which was presumably hit earlier that day. He replied that he couldn’t recall moving a bale.

Naylor was asked if he had interviewed persons at the scene on the day of the crash or in the weeks/months afterwards.

He indicated that he hadn’t carried out interviews. He said that he gathered statements made to other parties (such as the gardaí).

Ryan put it to him that there was a document titled “Investigation” which he had written on behalf of Motorsport Ireland following the accident. Naylor accepted that the word investigation inferred something different from what the document involved.

In the course of the inquest Ryan said that there was no follow up or assistance given to the loved ones of the deceased from Motorsport Ireland in the aftermath of the tragedy.

Clerk of the Course Dermot Healy apologised to the family when this was put to him at the inquest.

He said that he “wasn’t perfect” but stressed that he had made contact with the family. Healy said that the buck stopped with him and that he had a lot going on at the time.

Healy said that a lot of people were impacted by what had occurred on the day of the rally. He advised them to contact ABATE counselling via Motorsport Ireland for support.

Evidence was also given by advanced paramedic Padraig McGlynn who tended to Eoin at the scene. He said that the young man was “successfully shocked” following the accident.

McGlynn said that McCarthy was breathing on his own again when he was being transferred to the helicopter for medical evacuation.

He added that McCarthy was a “fit young man” whom he felt had been given the best chance of survival following the work of the medical team at the scene. The inquest is expected to conclude on Friday.