Student died after eating 30 'magic mushrooms'
Inquest hears quadriplegic consumed too much poison
Saturday June 06 2009
A QUADRIPLEGIC student died of poisoning after consuming 30 'magic mushrooms'.
Brian Collins (24) of Nephin Hall, Hopkins Road, Castlebar, Co Mayo, was rushed to Mayo General Hospital in the early hours of October 13, 2007, an inquest into his death heard yesterday.
The inquest, which returned a verdict of death by misadventure, did not establish where Mr Collins got the mushrooms.
The student, who was confined to a wheelchair following an accident two years earlier, called his care assistant to say he was feeling unwell and began to drift in and out of consciousness. She immediately called the emergency services.
When he arrived at the Mayo hospital he was deeply unconscious with a rapid heart rate.
The impression on admission was that Mr Collins was suffering from acute mushroom poisoning following the ingestion of 30 mushrooms two to three hours earlier and he was transferred to the intensive care unit. He had problems with blood clotting and renal failure and by the following day, his liver condition had considerably worsened.
He was transferred to the liver unit at St Vincent's Hospital in Dublin, consultant respiratory physician Dr Cyril Rooney at Mayo General said in a letter read out at Dublin City Coroner's Court yesterday.
He died of complications of liver failure at St Vincent's Hospital on October 18.
Toxic
A number of mushrooms found with Mr Collins were found to be Liberty Cap mushrooms or psilocybin mushrooms, which are known for their psychedelic and hallucinogenic properties and are commonly known as "magic mushrooms". They are also toxic to the liver.
However, a post-mortem found that the student at Galway/Mayo Institute of Technology died of liver failure due an acute toxic reaction to a toxin called amatoxin, which is found in another type of mushroom.
"It's acute amatoxin toxicity and the mushroom identified was Liberty Cap so I suspect it's a mixture and he sustained an acute reaction and that caused the liver failure," said coroner Dr Brian Farrell.
He said Mr Collins could have been using them for a pain in his neck or recreationally.
He recorded a cause of death of liver failure due to acute amatoxin toxicity and a verdict of death by misadventure.
Mr Collins was left a quadriplegic after a fall from a balcony in a bar two years earlier when he broke his neck in three places.
He was able to get about with the use of a motorised wheelchair, had returned to college, was living in a specially adapted apartment and had two carers and a home help, the inquest heard.
His parents Michael and Bernadette Collins declined an offer by the coroner to look further into the matter.
- Georgina O'Halloran
