The family of a Co Donegal man who died in Altnagelvin Hospital after his ventilator was disconnected more than 50 years ago has applied for a fresh inquest.
Customs officer John O’Sullivan, from Fahan, was initially treated in the intensive care unit at the Derry-based hospital after a car accident in January 1973.
At the time of his admission a medical team assessed his chances of recovery as “reasonable”.
However, Mr O’Sullivan was later found dead after his ventilator was disconnected.
Lawyers say that at the time the Co Donegal native “could not have been able to physically move”.
The RUC did not carry out an investigation into his death and an open verdict was recorded after an inquest was held in Derry.
A request for an inquiry was later turned down by the Northern Ireland Office while damages were paid, with no admission of liability, to Mr O’Sullivan’s widow after a civil action was taken.
Mr Sullivan’s family has now asked Attorney General Brenda King to order a new inquest into his death and have “drawn attention of inconsistencies, discrepancies and questions which could be addressed by way of a coronial investigation”.
In a statement the family said they have “endured five decades of guessing about the last moments of life for an adored son, cherished brother, loved husband and caring father, in his unaccounted death while recovering within the ICU at Altnagelvin Hospital”.
“There are too many questions remaining which can still be answered by an independent coronial investigation,” they said.
“There was no police investigation, the original inquest was flawed, the only path cruelly offered to a widow with a young family, being to engage in a protracted five-year civil action against a health authority answering no questions.”
Mr O’Sullivan’s family say the ICU was “meant to be a sanctuary of clinical care with a code of safety, offering a shield in the expected recovery of our loved one”.
“These systems failed him - failed our family and most importantly our mother, and lastly these unanswered questions could continue to endanger others loved ones even today.”
Christopher Stanley, of KRW Law, said: “A fresh inquest could attempt to answer those questions and provided some respite for from the grief of his family.”
The Attorney General’s office made no comment when contacted.
A spokeswoman for the Western Health and Social Care Trust said: “Due to patient/client confidentiality we are unable to comment on individual cases.”
