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Student died after heavy drinking session

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    #62
    hotmail.com
    Registered Users Posts: 13,073 ✭✭✭✭hotmail.com


    Anyone else find this so tragic?

    Most of us mere mortals have done stupid things when we were drunk and never once do you think this is going to happen.

    I'm not making any judgement on this individual case, but I wish we got a more mature with alcohol. The "macho" crap that goes on with young lads and drinking is striking, some of them never grow out of it.


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    #63
    Overheal
    Registered Users Posts: 81,865 ✭✭✭✭Overheal


    MitchKoobski wrote: »
    Jesus Christ RTÉ I'm sure the family aren't exactly okay with all those details being made public...
    As mentioned above, some of it was public domain knowledge. But whats more I don't think it's a negative reflection on Gary Murphy. He drank too much, and his friends did what a lot of college kids do. I don't think his memory needs to feel ruined by that. The RTE article does go on to paint him as a kid of good character who just celebrated a victory to a lethal excess.

    And whats more, without those details, this article becomes just another ignored stub. But the drinking culture needs to be brought to light, warts and all.


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    #64
    _LilyRose_
    Registered Users Posts: 211 ✭✭_LilyRose_


    Gunsfortoys wrote: »
    I think kids, should be taught at an early age of the effects of drugs and alcohol in order to make an informed decision for themselves.

    Ha! They are! Confirmation students get courses about drugs awareness (or they do in my locality anyways) which deals with everything from alcohol to solvent abuse, peer pressure and drug types and side effects.

    No amount of any of this will convince or persuade the average teenager from not drinking. I think there should be more horror stories broadcasted, maybe like the car accident ads minus the car accident.

    I'm a teenager who doesn't drink or smoke or take drugs but I could very easily if I wanted to..I'm not trying to sound preachy or self important but it does really depend on the person...peer pressure is always there and not only when it comes to drinking, etc. Informed decision or not, young people are still gonna be stupid sometimes...


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    #65
    mathepac
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 4,991 ✭✭✭mathepac


    St._Andalou wrote: »
    ... Putting someone in a lift naked when they're obviously in trouble (he had taken a bang twice at this stage) is ridiculous.
    I don't think it's fair to assume that his companions on the night were all capable of rational thought or had their full range of their cognitive abilities, unfortunately.
    hotmail.com wrote: »
    ... Most of us mere mortals have done stupid things when we were drunk and never once do you think this is going to happen...
    This is the "invulnerability of youth" reinforced by the consumption of alcolhol and / or other psychoactive substances.
    hotmail.com wrote: »
    ... I wish we got a more mature with alcohol. The "macho" crap that goes on with young lads and drinking is striking, some of them never grow out of it.
    So do I but the binge-drinking behaviour seems endemic and unfortunately persists with some who survive the excesses of youth.
    Overheal wrote: »
    ... And whats more, without those details, this article becomes just another ignored stub. But the drinking culture needs to be brought to light, warts and all.
    Agreed.


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    #66
    rebel10
    Registered Users Posts: 2,047 ✭✭✭rebel10


    _LilyRose_ wrote: »
    Ha! They are! Confirmation students get courses about drugs awareness (or they do in my locality anyways) which deals with everything from alcohol to solvent abuse, peer pressure and drug types and side effects.

    No amount of any of this will convince or persuade the average teenager from not drinking. I think there should be more horror stories broadcasted, maybe like the car accident ads minus the car accident.

    I'm a teenager who doesn't drink or smoke or take drugs but I could very easily if I wanted to..I'm not trying to sound preachy or self important but it does really depend on the person...peer pressure is always there and not only when it comes to drinking, etc. Informed decision or not, young people are still gonna be stupid sometimes...
    Fair play to you.
    However, i think there is a danger that young people become desensitized to these shock tactics, unfortunately. We all have this "it won't happen to me" outlook on life when it comes to drinking, driving and many other things. When you are younger you do feel invincible, and sadly many older people also never shake this off.
    As much as schools and colleges have a huge role to play, i think parents need to become more responsible for teaching their children the right way to respect alcohol and also how do deal with a friend who may be very drunk.


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    #67
    marxcoo
    Registered Users Posts: 263 ✭✭marxcoo


    St._Andalou wrote: »
    After he fell on the coffee table and on a concrete floor, why did his friends think it would be funny to do this to him? It's awful.

    As a previous user said, when one of my friends in college was drunk my first instinct was to look after them.

    Putting someone in a lift naked when they're obviously in trouble (he had taken a bang twice at this stage) is ridiculous.

    ah well to be fair, he might have taken a couple of small tumbles, but they prob weren't that bad. The tumbles and being put into a lift didn't kill him, the bronchial pneumonia did. I feel bad for his friends, I've been in a similar position myself before. I'm sure they think about it every single day and regret it. It's no point saying it was ridiculous now, it was quite clearly ridiculous, but I'm sure we've all got up to crazy **** in our day.


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    #68
    hotmail.com
    Registered Users Posts: 13,073 ✭✭✭✭hotmail.com


    marxcoo wrote: »
    ah well to be fair, he might have taken a couple of small tumbles, but they prob weren't that bad. The tumbles and being put into a lift didn't kill him, the bronchial pneumonia did. I feel bad for his friends, I've been in a similar position myself before. I'm sure they think about it every single day and regret it. It's no point saying it was ridiculous now, it was quite clearly ridiculous, but I'm sure we've all got up to crazy **** in our day.

    Do share...


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    #69
    rebel10
    Registered Users Posts: 2,047 ✭✭✭rebel10


    marxcoo wrote: »
    ah well to be fair, he might have taken a couple of small tumbles, but they prob weren't that bad. The tumbles and being put into a lift didn't kill him, the bronchial pneumonia did. I feel bad for his friends, I've been in a similar position myself before. I'm sure they think about it every single day and regret it. It's no point saying it was ridiculous now, it was quite clearly ridiculous, but I'm sure we've all got up to crazy **** in our day.
    Agree.
    How many of us have been out with a friend who has drunk too much, probably vomited and all we do (if we do it) is bring them home and put them into bed. Its scary thinking back on all those times in college when this happened once or twice a week to one friend at least in a group and all i did was leave them fend for themselves. :(


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    #70
    marxcoo
    Registered Users Posts: 263 ✭✭marxcoo


    hotmail.com wrote: »
    Do share...

    I'd rather not.


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    #71
    yermanoffthetv
    Registered Users Posts: 625 ✭✭✭yermanoffthetv


    "Let he who is without sin" etc.. As many have said weve all done stupid stuff like this so cant take a high and mighty position.People can denounce binge drinking till the cows come home but its not going to change peoples attitudes towards alcohol.Kids around that age will get a hold of alcohol one way or another so it would be better to teach kids to drink responsibly at a younger age than collectively sticking our head in the sand towards the issue. Id agree with allowing 16/17 year olds drink at home under parental supervision(and with friends parents concent) Youd be far less likely to get langers drunk infront of your mates parents and you wouldnt be sat in a wet freezing field in November necking buckfast. A tragic loss for the family and my sympathies to them. While his friends acted irresponsibly theyll probably carry this with them for a long time.Most young people get up to this carry on untill they have one to many embarrassing nights and learn some self control.


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    #72
    HavingCrack
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,847 ✭✭✭HavingCrack


    I'm a bit confused here, did he die from alcohol poisoning or pneumonia???


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    #73
    HavingCrack
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,847 ✭✭✭HavingCrack


    yermanoffthetv wrote: »
    "Let he who is without sin" etc.. As many have said weve all done stupid stuff like this so cant take a high and mighty position.People can denounce binge drinking till the cows come home but its not going to change peoples attitudes towards alcohol.Kids around that age will get a hold of alcohol one way or another so it would be better to teach kids to drink responsibly at a younger age than collectively sticking our head in the sand towards the issue. Id agree with allowing 16/17 year olds drink at home under parental supervision(and with friends parents concent) Youd be far less likely to get langers drunk infront of your mates parents and you wouldnt be sat in a wet freezing field in November necking buckfast. A tragic loss for the family and my sympathies to them. While his friends acted irresponsibly theyll probably carry this with them for a long time.Most young people get up to this carry on untill they have one to many embarrassing nights and learn some self control.

    You've misread the article, he wasn't underage. He was nearly 20, nearly 2 years over the legal limit. You don't have to be underage to drink stupidly.


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    #74
    seanbmc
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,842 ✭✭✭seanbmc


    HavingCrack wrote: »
    I'm a bit confused here, did he die from alcohol poisoning or pneumonia???

    He died from pneumonia, he would have been fine if his so called friends didn't do all of those idiotic things to him.


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    #75
    Diapason
    Registered Users Posts: 452 ✭✭Diapason


    seanbmc wrote: »
    He died from pneumonia, he would have been fine if his so called friends didn't do all of those idiotic things to him.

    Is that true? I'm asking merely for information, not to challenge.


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    #76
    rebel10
    Registered Users Posts: 2,047 ✭✭✭rebel10


    seanbmc wrote: »
    He died from pneumonia, he would have been fine if his so called friends didn't do all of those idiotic things to him.
    Or if he hadn't drunk that amount of alcohol. All the blame can't be put on the friends. Hardly think he would have been fine.


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    #77
    Run_to_da_hills
    Closed Accounts Posts: 20,009 ✭✭✭✭Run_to_da_hills


    MitchKoobski wrote: »
    Jesus Christ RTÉ I'm sure the family aren't exactly okay with all those details being made public...

    I think its a good thing that these details were made public.

    Anything to make others aware of the dangers of fooling about with excessive alcohol.


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    #78
    HarryPotter41
    Registered Users Posts: 1,402 ✭✭✭HarryPotter41


    IzzyWizzy wrote: »
    Not at all, I'm sure I've had more than that in one go, after other drinks, but it really does affect everyone differently. I have a friend who's practically comatose after a few strong pints. Makes a difference how much you've eaten that day, all sorts of things. The important thing is to look out for your friends instead of acting like a total selfish twat. Imagine if they'd told him to take it easy and have some water instead of egging him on for their own entertainment.


    Would have to agree, have never seen what fun there is to be derived from doing that kind of thing to someone you call a friend, when mine passed out when I was that age I would do everything to make sure they were okay. Never did anything like that. Don't see the point. And before I am accused its not a holier than thou attitude, I just value my mates a lot and treat them accordingly.


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    #79
    grrrrrrrrrr
    Closed Accounts Posts: 635 ✭✭✭grrrrrrrrrr


    At the end of the day will this make any diffetence to anyone with regards to alcohol? This death really was horrible, at least if it was a car crash he would be a statistic. Now all he is is dead. Ya I probably am being far too harsh but as that lad and his family found out, life is harsh.
    Im a teen and the way the majority abuse alcohol is just horrible. People getting plastered week after week. But hey, I guess thats the norm. As is drinking pretty much from first year in secondary school.

    Apologies for the rant, not that any of you will take any notice of this post.


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    #80
    Fremen
    Registered Users Posts: 2,481 ✭✭✭Fremen


    _LilyRose_ wrote: »
    Ha! They are! Confirmation students get courses about drugs awareness (or they do in my locality anyways) which deals with everything from alcohol to solvent abuse, peer pressure and drug types and side effects.

    To be honest, you're fed a load of nonsense about drugs in school. It'd be nice if they give some practical advice resembling the truth. Instead of "Marijuana is a gateway drug", it'd be nice to hear "Marijuana is mostly harmless, but you need to treat it with respect. Smoking too much will make you depressed and you may get so used to the high that you feel like you need to smoke it".


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    #81
    HavingCrack
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,847 ✭✭✭HavingCrack


    rebel10 wrote: »
    Or if he hadn't drunk that amount of alcohol. All the blame can't be put on the friends. Hardly think he would have been fine.

    But a large enough proportion can. We're all aware that sometimes peope drink over their limits. If you (in general, not your specifically) were clearly as dangerously intoxicated as your man was, it'd be nice to think our friends would call an ambulance rather than stripping us and dumping us in a lift. If his friends had called an ambulance instead of doing what they did he might still be alive today or at least he would have had a better chance.

    I had to do this myself for a girl I know on one occasion where pneumonia would have been a significant risk if we'd all just left her "because she drank too much".


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    #82
    jackiebaron
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,038 ✭✭✭jackiebaron


    St._Andalou wrote: »
    After he fell on the coffee table and on a concrete floor, why did his friends think it would be funny to do this to him? It's awful.

    As a previous user said, when one of my friends in college was drunk my first instinct was to look after them.

    Putting someone in a lift naked when they're obviously in trouble (he had taken a bang twice at this stage) is ridiculous.

    It happens though. Some people just don't regard any dangers when they're young and drunk.
    I've seen Aussies tie the ankle of their comatose drinking buddy to a wild boar and coiling up in laughter as he's dragged across sand and scrub and rocks and gravel sustaining nasty gashes and pounding his beer soaked body off tree stumps.
    Fcuking maniacs. !


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    #83
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 0 ✭ [Deleted User]


    Originally Posted by rte
    An inquest in Cork has been told how a 19-year-old student died after he drank what was described as a lethal amount of alcohol.

    The coroner's court was told that paramedics could not resuscitate Gary Murphy from Palm Drive, Grantstown Village, Waterford, when they were called to his apartment by friends with whom he had been drinking.

    He died ten days later at Cork University Hospital.

    Mr Murphy, a second-year Arts student at University College Cork, was a keen hurler, and was a member of the Ballygunner U-21 team that won the Waterford Championship on 5 December last year.

    The following night they returned to Cork to celebrate their win, and a number of them gathered in Mr Murphy's apartment at Victoria Mills, Victoria Cross, in Cork.

    Mr Murphy was drinking cans of beer. He and his friends started a drinking game which involved pulling a card from a deck of playing cards and drinking different amounts of alcohol, depending on the card picked.

    The inquest at Cork City Coroner's Court was told that Mr Murphy had more than ten cans of beer before he started drinking vodka neat from a one-litre bottle.

    Some of his friends put down money and dared him to drink about a quarter of a litre of the alcohol straight.

    He drank around half a litre of vodka in total, in addition to the beer he had drunk earlier.

    He became drunk, and fell on a coffee table in the apartment and on the concrete floor of the balcony outside.

    He was asleep on a couch when some of his friends removed his clothes.

    He was put into an elevator naked and sent up a number of floors before the elevator returned. He was then put to bed. Two more friends then shaved off one of his eyebrows.

    Minutes later one of his friends noticed that Mr Murphy's lips had turned blue.

    He was placed in the recovery position and an ambulance was called. He was removed to Cork University Hospital but slipped into a coma.

    He died ten days later of bronchial pneumonia. The jury returned a verdict of death by misadventure.

    Coroner Dr Myra Cullinane described Mr Murphy's death as an unbearable loss. She said the facts of the case were a testament to the risks associated with high alcohol intake.

    Speaking at the inquest, Mr Murphy's father Liam said his son's death had devastated their family.

    He said Gary loved life, he loved hurling, student life and UCC. He said he missed him terribly but also had great memories.
    R.I.P Gary Murphy


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    #84
    hondasam
    Closed Accounts Posts: 34,418 ✭✭✭✭hondasam


    should we be discussing this really, His friends or family could be on here. Let him rest in peace.


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    #85
    rebel10
    Registered Users Posts: 2,047 ✭✭✭rebel10


    HavingCrack wrote: »
    But a large enough proportion can. We're all aware that sometimes peope drink over their limits. If you (in general, not your specifically) were clearly as dangerously intoxicated as your man was, it'd be nice to think our friends would call an ambulance rather than stripping us and dumping us in a lift. If his friends had called an ambulance instead of doing what they did he might still be alive today or at least he would have had a better chance.

    I had to do this myself for a girl I know on one occasion where pneumonia would have been a significant risk if we'd all just left her "because she drank too much".
    And i think this needs to be addressed when educating teenagers and young adults. "What to do with someone who has passed out while drunk." Sadly, i think they have probably witnessed something similar happening to other friends on many nights out and have probably behaved in the same way with them. Unfortunately this time the person didn't wake up with a bad hangover and skip lectures to cure it.:( When you are that young and probably nearly as drunk as the poor boy, you are less likely to spot someone in danger.


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    #86
    Overheal
    Registered Users Posts: 81,865 ✭✭✭✭Overheal


    hondasam wrote: »
    should we be discussing this really, His friends or family could be on here. Let him rest in peace.
    What shouldn't we be discussing exactly? Should the dangers of alcohol be swept under the rug because someone died? Or is that the best time to bring the danger to light?

    I suspect the family understands that.


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    #87
    yermanoffthetv
    Registered Users Posts: 625 ✭✭✭yermanoffthetv


    HavingCrack wrote: »
    You've misread the article, he wasn't underage. He was nearly 20, nearly 2 years over the legal limit. You don't have to be underage to drink stupidly.

    No I understand he was 19, Im talking about the bigger picture. You get kids coming to college having never drank before and have no idea how to drink responsibly. First bit of freedom theyll go on the tear with their equally inexperienced buddies. And I know its not all about being under age either, we as a society have fairly benign view about alcohol in general.


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    #88
    Tucking Fypo
    Registered Users Posts: 177 ✭✭Tucking Fypo


    Tragically sad. :(

    Now I realise this is AH, but do people really have to joke/debate about such a matter. Imagine it was one of your own.


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    #89
    mathepac
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 4,991 ✭✭✭mathepac


    Diapason wrote: »
    Is that true? I'm asking merely for information, not to challenge.
    No its not true, the response you received to your question is ill-informed nonsense, rubbish. There is nothing in any report anywhere quoting the coroner or a medical expert witness that attaches blame to his friends.


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    #90
    rebel10
    Registered Users Posts: 2,047 ✭✭✭rebel10


    hondasam wrote: »
    should we be discussing this really, His friends or family could be on here. Let him rest in peace.
    Unfortunately, if stories like this don't get discussed, they are swept under the carpet and very little is learnt from them. I am sure that the Murphy family are greiving more than anyone of us can even imagine, but i am also sure that they would be keen to never have this happen to another student like it did their son. If lessons can be learnt, i believe, it is worth discussing. Sorry, not being disrespectful.:(


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    #91
    _LilyRose_
    Registered Users Posts: 211 ✭✭_LilyRose_


    Fremen wrote: »
    To be honest, you're fed a load of nonsense about drugs in school. It'd be nice if they give some practical advice resembling the truth. Instead of "Marijuana is a gateway drug", it'd be nice to hear "Marijuana is mostly harmless, but you need to treat it with respect. Smoking too much will make you depressed and you may get so used to the high that you feel like you need to smoke it".

    I didn't mean in school there's this special drugs awareness course and the people who teach it have to do a course and everything..

    But I get where you're coming from..a lot of it, especially in SPHE classes, is pure bull****. Videos from the 80s about Johnny who 'hung out with the wrong crowd as a teen' and some fake sob story do no good. They should bring actual live people who've real experience and maybe some scars to show for it to scare us.

    I don't know what teachers are scared of. I mean, they don't even teach proper sex education...sorry bout this but they're still telling girls of 16 about periods when they should have moved on to contraception and stds two years beforehand..

    It's the responsibility of adults to tell kids about these things. Would they rather 12-yr-olds to learn about life the hard way, through the rape and murder of a schoolfriend? or the drug overdose of a sibling? or the death of a group of locals in a drink-driving accident?

    The sad thing is, the death of this poor man will be old news in a matter of days, and very few will learn from his death.


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