A YOUNG MAN was prevented by gardaí from entering the water to try and rescue his drowning father off the north Dublin coast two years ago because sea conditions were too dangerous, an inquest has heard.
Maciej “Magic” Orchowski (42) a father of three and official in the Passport Office, died at Beaumont Hospital on May 1, 2021, ten days after he got into difficulty while swimming at the North Beach in Balbriggan.
A sitting of Dublin District Coroner’s Court heard the family of Mr Chowski, a Polish national who lived at Market Green, Balbriggan, took the decision to switch off his life support machine after being informed by doctors that he would not recover from his injuries.
The victim’s son, Mikolaj Orchowski, told the inquest on Thursday that he received a call from his stepsister on April 21, 2022 that someone was drowning.
However, Mr Orchowski said he did not realise it was his father who had got into difficulty swimming until he arrived at the North Beach in Balbriggan.
“I tried to get into the water but I was not allowed by gardaí,” he recalled.
The inquest heard the deceased had only taken up swimming a few months earlier after a Christmas Day swim event.
However, he had become a regular swimmer, often going to the local beach in Balbriggan three or more times a day.
Mr Orchowski complained that his family were “left in the dark” by hospital staff about his father’s condition as they had received very little information about his injuries.
He outlined how his father had become an enthusiastic swimmer over a short period as it had helped him to lose weight and he had become a member of an informal swimming group who arranged via WhatsApp to meet to swim together.
Mr Orchowski told coroner Clare Keane that his father had not taken formal lessons but had gradually become more comfortable about swimming a little bit out of his depth.
However, he said his father still would not swim out too far from the shore.
Mr Orchowski expressed surprise that his father had chosen to go swimming on the North Beach in Balbriggan on the day of the accident as he usually chose to swim at the town’s main beach “because it was safer.”
He said the deceased would usually check tides and weather before going swimming.
“He always tried to go when it was calm but not that day,” his son remarked.
In response to questions from the coroner, Mr Orchowski said there was a warning sign about dangerous tides as well as a ring buoy at the location where his father was swimming.
In a statement, the deceased’s stepdaughter, Weronika Kujawa, who did not attend the hearing, said she had gone to the North Beach with her stepfather where he entered the water by himself before drifting over behind some rocks.
Ms Kujawa said someone noticed he was struggling in the water but efforts to throw him a ring buoy failed because of the strength of the current.
The inquest heard emergency services were alerted at around 5.45pm with an Irish Coast Guard helicopter and a RNLI lifeboat arriving at the scene about 20 minutes later.
Mr Orchowski was removed from the water about 30 metres offshore by the helicopter and taken to the beach where he was “in a critical condition.”
Garda Stephen Murphy said the weather at the time was calm but he was surprised that the water was “extremely dangerous” given the general conditions.
Garda Murphy said two swimmers and a passer-by who were on rocks about five metres from Mr Orchowski trying to reach him, also appeared in danger.
He said some other people who had been swimming at the time had also unsuccessfully tried to get to the victim.
The coroner noted that medical records showed that Mr Orchowski was in full cardiac arrest on arrival at Beaumont Hospital.
Based on postmortem findings that he had died as a result of drowning, Dr Keane recorded a verdict of accidental death.
She also praised Mr Orchowski’s family for making the “incredibly generous decision at such a difficult time” to donate some of his organs to help other patients.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
have your say