Father, 92, with dementia accidentally killed himself by pouring washing detergent on his cornflakes

A father-of-five accidentally killed himself after pouring washing detergent on a bowl of cornflakes instead of milk, an inquest has heard.

Tom McDonald, 92, from Donnybrook, Dublin, was rushed to St Vincent’s University Hospital on March 9 last year after his daughter realised he had poisoned himself.

Tom’s daughter, Ailbhe McDonald, was living with her father for the previous 19 months after her mother, Viola, moved to live in a nursing home. 

The 92-year-old had been diagnosed with dementia five years earlier and his condition had worsened in the few months leading up to his death. 

Ailbhe said he would often get up at strange times in the night to make food as he did not know whether it was day or evening, and sometimes he would eat food that was out of date.

Father-of-five Tom McDonald accidentally killed himself after pouring washing detergent on a bowl of cornflakes instead of milk, an inquest has heard

Aisling O’Grady and Derek McDonald pictured leaving the Dublin District Coroner’s Court this afternoon after the inquest into the death of their father 

On the night of his death, she heard him get up to make a bowl of cornflakes at around 3.30m, but he did not return to bed.

After walking downstairs to check on him, she noticed there was purple detergent in his cereal bowl after he said he didn’t feel well and he confirmed he had eaten it. 

Coroner Crona Gallagher heard how he was reluctant to go to hospital after vomiting up a small amount of food, but Ailbhe called the ambulance 30 minutes after he complained of a sore threat. 

At hospital, the 92-year-old’s condition worsened and he was pronounced dead at 8.50am.

Another of Tom’s daughters, Aisling O’Grady, explained how the detergent was ‘nowhere near the fridge’ but he still managed to find it, the Irish Examiner reports.

She said she was shocked by how quickly he died, explaining: ‘It was so quick. He was perfectly well and then all of a sudden he is gone.’  

In a statement, a consultant in emergency medicine at SVUH, John Legge, said Mr McDonald had problems with his breathing as the detergent had affected his lungs as well as his stomach.

Mr Legge added that his condition continued to deteriorate which meant it was unlikely he would survive. The inquest confirmed his accidental cause of death was aspiration pneumonitis – an inflammatory reaction in the lungs.

Mr McDonald was a retired member of the Defence Forces who had served in the Congo, but who had also worked as an accountant in the later part of his career. 

Coroner Gallagher confirmed his death would be brought to the attention of bodies such as the HSE and the Alzheimer Society of Ireland so families are aware of the risk of their loved ones swallowing detergent.