A 13-year-old who was unable to swim drowned at a north Co Dublin beach when he was pulled out to sea by strong currents, an inquest has heard.
Dublin District Coroner’s Court on Tuesday heard that Bradley Lulendo, from Tyrellstown, was pulled from the water at Burrow Beach, Sutton on July 11th, 2022, but was later pronounced dead at Children’s Health Ireland Temple Street after sustained resuscitation efforts failed.
In a deposition read into the court record, Bradley’s friend Ephraim said they were part of a group that travelled to Burrow Beach at about 5pm on the day. He said the boys were “having fun” and playing with water guns.
At about 7pm, while he and Bradley were playing in the sea, Ephraim noticed his friend being pushed out by the current. He said he tried to get closer to Bradley and noticed that he was standing on his “tippy toes”.
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“We both started to drown,” he said. “Bradley doesn’t know how to swim, he’s not a great swimmer.”
Ephraim was eventually pulled from the water by two people, but Bradley slipped under.
A lifeguard, named in court as Jack, was approached by the group when he was finishing up his shift at about 7pm. They informed him that their friend was missing, but said they were unsure of his location. Another lifeguard contacted the emergency services.
Jack began searching a section of water. He said the search conditions were difficult, with zero visibility underwater and a strong current pulling in the direction of Baldoyle. Howth Coast Guard and a RNLI inshore lifeboat arrived after a while to join the search.
Éilish McGloin, the most senior lifeguard on duty, began an underwater search, instructed by the Irish Coast Guard, at about 7.30pm. She found Bradley after around 40 minutes and transferred him to the shore with the help of the RNLI crew.
“His eyes were closed, he wasn’t conscious,” Ms McGloin said in her deposition.
She met Bradley’s mother, Madelena Lulendo, who she said collapsed on the beach due to shock.
RNLI personnel began CPR on Bradley on the beach and paramedics attached to the rescue helicopter applied defibrillator pads to the causality, but the machine advised not to shock him.
After an hour of resuscitation efforts, Alan Gallagher, a paramedic with the helicopter crew, said a decision was made to transfer Bradley by helicopter rather than waiting for an ambulance. This, in his opinion, was “the quickest way off the beach”, he said.
After landing at Beaumont Hospital, care of Bradley was passed to the National Ambulance Service (NAS), members of which transferred him to Temple Street. Bradley showed no signs of life on arrival, according to a report prepared by Dr Nuala Quinn. He had no heartbeat and his pupils were fixed and dilated.
After roughly 80 minutes of further resuscitation efforts, Bradley was pronounced dead at 10.35pm. Ms Lulendo formally identified her son’s body to An Garda Síochána.
Ms Lulendo was present in court on Tuesday and took to the witness box to confirm her deposition.
Robin Blandford, of Howth Coast Guard, told the court that significant traffic congestion at Burrow Beach on the day made access difficult. He and his crew “effectively abandoned” their emergency vehicle close to Sutton Dart Station and travelled “five to 10 minutes” on foot before reaching the beach.
He said it was then standard practice not to immediately call for an ambulance when responding to a call-out, instead waiting until the rescue services ascertained that one was required.
Ivan Longmore, divisional controller of the Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre in Dublin, said a review of the response to the drowning incident led to a change in that policy. The National Ambulance Service is now alerted earlier by Irish Coast Guard personnel responding to a call-out. He said this approach had not made “any discernible change” to the volume of calls it makes to the service.
The court heard there was no delay in the dispatching of ambulances to Burrow Beach when they were requested.
Dr David Menzies, deputy clinical director of the NAS, said the request for an ambulance for Bradley was triaged as a delta response, the second-highest level of priority. He said an ambulance arrived 14 minutes after being requested.
Dr Menzies noted it was not ideal that two ambulance services – the NAS and Dublin Fire Brigade – serve one geographic area. He said changes had been implemented in the control rooms of the service to improve co-ordination.
Responding to Coroner Dr Clare Keane, Ms McGloin said there was a sign near the entrance to the beach warning of the dangers of bathing at the location. Another sign at the “extremely popular” bathing spot alerts the public to strong currents present, she added.
Dr Keane confirmed that Bradley died due to drowning as she recorded a verdict of accidental death. She endorsed the changes implemented by the Irish Coast Guard and the NAS regarding the dispatch of ambulances.
Dr Keane paid tribute to the emergency and rescue services that responded to the incident and the “very brave” actions of the lifeguards. She offered her sympathies to Bradley’s family over their loss.
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