Michael McCarthy (37) from Cahermackee, Kealkil, Co Cork, was overcome by toxic fumes as he agitated slurry prior to spreading on the family farm last June.

‘Mike’ McCarthy, was a father of two young children who helped with the running of the family farm.

At an inquest into his death, Coroner Frank O’Connell described the circumstances of his death as a ‘scene of horror’.

Mike McCarthy’s son (six) was present as his grandfather, Teddy McCarthy, tried to pull Mike from the slurry pit.

“I jumped down and grabbed his left arm with my right arm and held on as long as I could but he was dead weight. He slipped from me and I had to let him go. He disappeared under the slurry,” Teddy McCarthy said.

Mike was working to knock off a hard crust that had formed on the slurry with a four foot pike when he was overcome by toxic fumes.

“He (Michael) climbed to the lower step (a four foot drop). He said ‘It’s moving well now Dad.’”

“Next thing I saw him stagger,” McCarthy said. Teddy McCarthy said he had ‘fierce difficulty’ and injured himself climbing back up the step. “I told Cathal to go tell his Nana,” he said.

At 5.57pm emergency services were called and neighbours arrived at the scene with equipment to empty the tank. Station Officer at Bantry Fire Service Ian Vickery arrived at 6.21pm. “Michael had been sucked into the pit, the agitator had still been operating,” Mr Vickery said in his statement.

The deceased was recovered from the pit at 6.40pm. He died after inhaling extremely high levels of hydrogen sulphide from the slurry tank, Assistant State Pathologist Dr Margaret Bolster said.

Health and Safety Inspector David Barry said fatalities resulting from slurry gas were becoming an ‘almost annual event.’

Slurry agitation should be done on a windy day in order that gases disperse, in sheds that have been vacated by both humans and animals and should be avoided for at least an hour after the process is complete, Barry said.

Recording a verdict of accidental death, the Coroner urged farmers to be vigilant in implementing the measures and said safe slurry practice should be top of farm safety agenda.

“Familiarity breeds contempt...but the consequences are ferocious,” O’Connell said.

Earlier, O’Connell heard details of a tragic case in which a three year old child was fatally injured on his family farm in west Cork. The child suffered crush injuries to his chest and abdomen when he was struck by the bucket of a digger. HSA Inspector Mr Barry said the digger driver was moving material from left to right, which is his ‘blind side’. The child only came into view when the bucket struck him, the inquest heard. A verdict of accidental death was returned.