A POPULAR local footballer who had suffered from diabetes since he was a child tragically died as a result of a hypoglycaemic attack exacerbated by a number of factors, an inquest has heard.

Father-of-one, Jamie Murphy (26), a talented sportsman who had played for Enniskillen Santos and Enniskillen Rangers, died at the Erne Hospital, Enniskillen on the afternoon of July 10, 2011, several hours after he had become unresponsive at the house of his girlfriend, Eileen Lee.

Mr Murphy, who lived in Lisgoole Parke, Enniskillen, had been diagnosed with insulin dependent diabetes mellitus when he was seven years old.

However, the inquest into his death, held at the Coroners Court in Belfast, heard that his diabetes was “poorly controlled” and he suffered frequent hypoglycaemic attacks.

Hypoglycaemia occurs when the blood glucose level suddenly becomes dangerously low. According to the NHS, it is most commonly associated with diabetes and mainly occurs if someone with the condition takes too much insulin, misses a meal or exercises too hard.

After hearing evidence from a number of witnesses, Coroner Suzanne Anderson ruled that Mr Murphy’s death was due to hypoglycaemia, due to “poorly controlled” insulin dependant diabetes mellitus, exacerbated by alcohol consumption, recent exercise and insulin administration. 

The inquest heard that on the afternoon of July 9, 2011 – the day before his death – Mr Murphy had played football with a local team before going to a public house.

Later that day, at about 7pm, he called at his sister’s house with some bottles of beer. His sister thought he was a “strange colour”, the inquest heard.

He refused any food, saying he had eaten earlier. He left to go out with friends and later returned to his mother’s house. At about 10pm, he left in a taxi to go to a local bar. 

When he returned he had something to eat and he told his sister at around midnight he was going to his girlfriend’s house. 

Upon arriving at his girlfriend’s house, he continued to drink alcohol. At about 3am, Mr Murphy and his girlfriend went to bed.

An hour later, his girlfriend found him sweating and unresponsive, lying on his side in bed.

She got no response when she attempted to rouse him, and administered some sugar and water into his mouth using a teaspoon.

He regained consciousness and took some more sugar and water, hugged his girlfriend and both fell asleep.

At around 9am on July 10, his girlfriend awoke. She was unable to rouse Jamie and noted that he was sweating. She placed some sugar into his mouth, but he failed to respond.

His girlfriend found his blue-coloured insulin pen and injected an “unknown quantity” of insulin into his abdomen. However, he failed to respond and she went to his sister who lived nearby. 

His sister gave her some Lucozade and instructed her to dab it around his mouth. After doing this, she moved him to a more upright position to assist him drinking more of the Lucozade.

He grunted and then went to sleep.

Sometime later, his girlfriend was awoken by Mr Murphy making a “large gurgling sound”. She attempted to rouse him, but he was unresponsive.

He appeared to go rigid and his arms suddenly moved from his chest into a straight position. At about 1.40pm she contacted the emergency services.

On arrival of an ambulance crew 10 minutes later, advanced life support was required. However, a pulse could not be detected and blood pressure was not recorded.

“He was transferred to the Erne Hospital where resuscitation efforts were continued, sadly to no avail,” the Coroner said.