A farmer and millionaire had just died a day after marrying his girlfriend was embalmed with "undue haste," a coroner's inquest in Tullamore, County Offaly, has heard.
The farmer Joseph Grogan passed away at 75 his home around 3 p.m. on April 15, 2023, few hours day after marrying Lisa Flaherty, 50, at a registry office.
Grogan was diagnosed with stage four, high-grade non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma earlier this year and had also undergone chemotherapy.
It was that he developed infections after two of the four treatment rounds, he was said to be responding well to treatment before he was announce dead.
A farmer and millionaire remains were embalmed within hours of his death, a move Coroner Raymond Mahon said complicated efforts to determine a definitive cause of death. The embalming occurred before a post-mortem could be properly conducted, preventing toxicology tests from being performed.
Me while on the day of Mr Grogan’s death, a neighbour who is also a psychiatric nurse with palliative care training, who is also Ms Flaherty’s sister, was called to the house. it was sais that she was told that an ambulance had been summoned and that paramedics advised palliative services would not be available until Monday. Mr Grogan had allegedly said he preferred to remain at home.
As further questions arose over how the body was released. Mr Martin Keyes, a lorry driver and part-time undertaker, said he transported Mr Grogan’s body to Longford around 7:30 p.m. after being told by Ms Flaherty that a doctor had given permission. Mr Keyes later admitted he had not seen a death certificate and acknowledged that the doctor on call, not being Mr Grogan’s GP, could not have given such consent.
The coroner ultimately ruled that Mr Grogan died of natural causes linked to a probable infection, compounded by a compromised immune system due to cancer and its treatment. While recognising "valid concerns" over the care Mr Grogan received, the coroner noted that the deceased had been reluctant to seek medical attention.
The three-day inquest concluded on July 16, with Ms Flaherty leaving the court in tears. She stands to inherit Mr Grogan’s 220-acre farm in Screggan, Tullamore, valued at €5.5 million.
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