Man tragically killed after forcing his way out of Offaly nursing home

GARDAI have still not released the name of the man who died following a road traffic collision on the road between Tullamore and Clara last Thursday evening, December 15.

The man and his wife had been admitted just that day to Esker Ri nursing home just outside Clara.

General Manager Sheila Maher said: ''He came to us on Thursday afternoon. He was on Wing C. He was accompanied by his wife as she looked after him at home. He was admitted at 2pm. There were carers with him constantly but he was quite aggressive with dementia and was looking to go home.''

Later that evening the unfortunate man managed to go into another room and went to a window which had a safety lock. Sheila Maher said they checked all of the CCTV and they know he didn't use any of the doors to get out.

''At 7.30pm on Thursday evening he went to the fire exit door and then he walked into another bedroom at the side of the building. Our outside CCTV shows that at 7.35pm he forced and pushed open the window. This wasn't a man who was feeble in any way. He was very strong. He jumped out and walked at pace onto the road and he was killed within 5 minutes, at 7.45pm,'' said Ms Maher. Gardai rang the Esker Ri minutes later.

''The staff here were devastated and are still devastated as they wondered had they left something unlocked. Everyone is upset at the tragedy. We have a locked and coded front door here and all of the fire exits are alarmed so if you touch it it goes off. But you cannot lock windows in case of fire,'' explained Ms Maher who added that HIQA has been notified of the tragedy.

Gardaí attended the scene of the fatal road traffic collision which happened on the R420.

The man who was in his 80s, was pronounced dead at the scene and was removed to the Midlands Regional Hospital Tullamore. No other injuries were reported.

The road was closed for a period to allow for a technical examination to be conducted by Forensic Collision Investigators.

Gardaí are appealing for any witnesses to this collision to come forward. Any road users who may have camera footage (including dash-cam) and were travelling on the R420 between Tullamore and Clara, between 7:30pm and 8pm are asked to make this footage available to Gardaí.

Anyone with any information is asked to contact Tullamore Garda Station on 057 932 7600, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111, or any Garda Station.