An inquest in Sligo has heard that a 41-year old Ukranian man whose body was recovered from the water off Streedagh Beach last June was a victim of the little understood condition of Sudden Adult Death Syndrome.
The man’s family and relatives are now being advised to have themselvers investigated for the condition, which could be inherited.
On the evening of June 10th last year, 41-year old Ukranian man, Vitaliy Pecheroha, and his friend, Conrad Mancawicz, from Poland, went to Streedagh to go snorkeling and spear fishing.
Later, Mancawicz found Pecheroha unresponsive in about five metres of water and dragged him onto nearby rocks.
Pecheroha was airlifted to Sligo University Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Pathologist Dr Clive Kilgallen said that following the results of an initial investigation, it was thought death was due to a possible heart cause rather than drowning.
He sought the opinion of Professor Aurelie Fabre, an expert in St Vincent’s Hospital in Dublin.
It was then determined death was as a result of Sudden Adult Death Syndrome, which can be caused by proteins that make the heart electrically unstable.
The inquest heard the deceased was active and had no hardening or thickening of the arteries.
Dr Kilgallen said Pecheroha was likely to have had an adnormal heart rhythm that would cause his heart to stop.
