A day of swimming at Sligo beach ended with the tragic death of Longford man Kyzysztof Mierzwicki (44)

Coroner Fergal Kelly announced at the inquest into the death of Kyzysztof Mierzwicki (44) of Drumhaughly, Killoe, County Longford that he died by accident.

The cause of death was asphyxiation by drowning, although toxic alcohol levels also played a role.

In a statement read to the court by Sergeant Noel D’Arcy, Aneta Mierzwicki, the deceased’s wife, told the court that on August 6 last year they traveled to Tra Bhúi beach near Templeboy in Sligo.

They arrived there around 9:30 am and visited this place frequently.

She said her husband, Kyzysztof, had maybe two or three beers along the way and that wasn’t unusual.

He loved the water and swam since he was a child.

He understood that there was a no swimming sign there.

While he went swimming, she made something to eat.

After 10-15 minutes she called him and saw him swimming normally.

When he came to shore, she saw “two large waves around him.”

“After that he didn’t answer anymore. He was lying in the water. When he got in first, there were no waves.”

She went and called for help, and a man came and helped her get her husband out of the water.

This man began CPR and others came and helped, but he couldn’t breathe.

Coastguard Rescue Helicopter 118 took her husband to University Hospital Sligo and she drove there.

When she arrived, she was informed that her husband had died.

She spoke to the Gardai at the hospital and gave him his details.

In a statement, Linda O’Dwyer, a former lifeguard and Irish water safety instructor, said she knew Tra Bhúi beach well from stand up paddleboard (SUP) surfing.

She was at the beach late Saturday night to camp and see if the conditions were right for a SUP surfing trip the next morning.

On Sunday morning, she said, “The surf was lousy and there were some big waves that were constantly moving, as usual.”

The tide was coming in and she had no plans to go surfing unless conditions improved. It was located at the south end of the beach parking lot.

She saw a car stop near the danger sign and she saw two people get out and walk along the beach.

They walked about 100 to 200 meters south along the beach and settled on the rocks below the dune well above the high tide mark.

They placed a black and white umbrella behind their seat.

She added that not long after, she saw a woman in clothes and a man in a wetsuit coming down from the waterfront parking lot where the danger sign was posted.

They crossed the stream, then the woman went into the water. Her jeans were wet up to mid-calf, as was the man in the wetsuit.

He went further into the water, right next to a crevice in the rock, and the witness was very afraid that he would try to swim as the water was not safe for that.

The witness looked around for a lifebuoy and asked if there were any other surfers outside their vans, but there was no one in sight.

Then she saw the man, who was less than waist deep in the water, pull something out of the water and the woman ran to help him and pull it out.

She realized it was an unconscious man wearing dark shorts.

She called 112, asked for the Coast Guard and gave them the location.

The man in the wetsuit gave CPR to the unresponsive man without hesitation.

The witness made her way to the three people, the woman, the man in the wetsuit and the man in the dark shorts.

The man in the dark shorts had a lot of foam coming out of his mouth and nose and didn’t react.

The flood came and they moved the man.

The helicopter landed in a nearby field and then took the man to Sligo University Hospital.

Garda Noel D’arcy told the court that at 10.40am he received a call to SUH where a man from Trá Bhúi in Skreen had been admitted.

He arrived at 11 a.m. and told Dr. Kieran Cunningham said the death was confirmed at 11:01 a.m.

Garda spoke to the deceased’s wife, Aneta Mierswicka, who identified the body as her husband at 11.35am.

The following day he took a statement from Aneta and Linda O’Dwyer, who had been present at the incident.

Coroner Fergal Kelly condemned the accident and said the cause of death was asphyxiation by drowning, with toxic levels of alcohol playing a role.

He praised Linda O’Dwyer and the other surfer who did their best to help the deceased.

The coroner said there were clear signs warning of the dangers of swimming in an area with high tide.

He added that it was all too common in Sligo for currents to make swimming unsafe and that unfortunately there had been deaths in the water in Sligo in the past.

The coroner and Sergeant Derek Butler expressed their condolences to the family of the deceased.