A STARK and timely warning over the potentially life-threatening effects posed by steroids has been made following the inquest into the death of well-known body builder, Seamus Desmond Warrington, from Coleshill, Enniskillen.

A former Mr. Northern Ireland Body Builder, Mr Warrington died on June 20, 2009 in the Erne hospital after complaining of a severely painful and swollen abscess on his upper right thigh.

He had been due to undergo surgery in the hospital to treat the infection before his untimely death.

The inquest on Monday heard that the personal trainer who owned a private gym on the Tempo Road, Enniskillen, had been injecting himself with anabolic steroids as far back as 2005 in order to maintain his muscular physique.

The 32-year-old's mother, Betty Warrington, and his partner, Michelle Gleed, with whom he had a daughter, were among those present to hear the Coroner Mr. B. Sherrard's ruling.

They heard that his continued use of steroids had caused his heart to increase to twice the average size for an adult male, whilst narrowing his main coronary arteries. A pathologist who examined Mr. Warrington's body said this was commonly recognised in prolonged steroid usage.

He added this would have placed increased pressure on Mr. Warrington's heart and that this alone could have provoked his sudden death at any time.

During proceedings, Mrs. Warrington said in the two weeks prior to her son's death, his only health complaint he had been the infection on his leg.

She told the Coroner she had been aware her son was using steroids but did not know for how long. She said he had been going to the gym since his mid-teens.

His partner of eight years, Ms Gleed, also gave evidence that she was unaware of how long or often he was using the steroids.

"I have no idea where he got them from. He never discussed that with me, he never got me involved," she said.

According to Ms. Gleed, just over two weeks before his death, Mr. Warrington's leg had become very painful and swollen after he had injected himself with anabolic steroids. She recalled how Mr. Warrington believed the wound had been caused by the action of injecting himself with the steroids.

After attending his local GP, Dr. Johannes Guette, on June 8, he was prescribed with antibiotics to treat the infection.

Dr. Guette informed the inquest on Monday that Mr. Warrington had told him he bought the steroids over the internet.

A long-term patient of his, Dr. Guette said he had continually advised Mr. Warrington to stop using the steroids. He stated that he had made references at least three times in his records that the body builder intended to quit the steroids after an upcoming competition, but that this came to nothing.

Dr. Guette told the inquest there had been at least two other occasions when Mr. Warrington had adverse reactions to his self-administration of steroids, once in 2005 and another time in 2008.

On both of these occasions, Mr. Warrington had treated himself by taking antibiotics.

When the personal trainer presented himself to Dr. Guette on June 8, he had already tried to drain the wound himself, and made a further two attempts after this date.

Dr. Guette described Mr. Warrington as a man who "knew what he wanted". "He had his own ideas but we had a good relationship," he told the inquest, "Seamus was very frank and honest with me. He said one doctor in America had given him advice on steroids. I gave him the antibiotics because I thought it could still settle, like it had on the previous occasions." Coroner Sherrard said it was his understanding that in the course of the two weeks before his death, Mr. Warrington had gone "backwards and forwards" from his GP and the Erne, "knowing he was in trouble but unsure of how to manage the infection".

On June 13 he had gone into the Erne requesting that the wound be drained. However hospital staff had advised him that a five-day drip of antibiotics was the best course of action.

Mr. Warrington began the IV on June 13 but discharged himself from hospital the following day.

He attended his GP again on June 15.

"His leg looked much worse this time," Dr. Guette told the inquest, "I told him this does not look good. He said he had had an unpleasant experience in the hospital and was keen to stay at home." But when the body builder returned on June 19 it was clear that immediate action was required.

This time when Mr. Warrington presented at casualty, an operation was planned to have the wound drained and cleaned later that day.

However his allocated time slot had to be postponed after doctors learned Mr. Warrington had taken a protein drink despite their medical advice.

Ms. Gleed said she had been with her partner until around 11.30pm on June 19.

She said he had looked pale and was snoring heavily. Whilst he suffered from sleep apnea, a disorder characterized by abnormal pauses in breathing or instances of abnormally low breathing, she believed he had never been that loud before. She informed the surgeon before she left of this condition.

"The doctor said he was stable and was sleeping comfortably. When I went to say goodbye to him he looked very tired and his eyes were rolled back in his head. I just thought it was the medication." Ms. Gleed said she had only returned home 35 to 40 minutes before receiving a call from the hospital to say doctors were trying to resuscitate Mr. Warrington. He was pronounced dead at 1.50am on June 20.

Ms. Gleed was scathing of her partner's treatment in hospital on both occasions prior to his death.

"He was uncomfortable with the way they treated him and the way they spoke to him," she said, "In my opinion they neglected him. He didn't feel they were very professional within their job. He didn't have any faith in the staff so to speak." Pathologist, Dr. James Lynness, said it was his conclusion that Mr. Warrington had died as a result of two life threatening conditions -- the abscess of the right leg and severe heart disease, namely cardiomegaly and coronary artery atheroma, due to the use of anabolic steroids.

He said he had identified the wound on the leg measuring 53 cm by 5cm, from the upper leg to just below the knee.

Apart from the enlarged heart muscle, Dr. Lyness said he had also found a "marked enlarged liver, spleen and kidneys".

"The liver showed early signs of cancer," he told the inquest, "Liver cancer is extremely rare and again linked with anabolic steroids." Coroner Sherrard agreed with his conclusion.

Passing on his condolences to the family and friends, he said Mr. Warrington's death had been a "tremendous shock" and something that nobody had entirely anticipated, "given the fact that the conditions at the time of his death don't seem to have been apparent to anybody".

The Coroner added that his death served as a "real reminder" of the grave dangers of self administration of drugs of any type.

"What also concerns me is the ready access that he had to anabolic steroids. That is something that has arisen not just in his death but other deaths which I am dealing with. It is a concern to me that these drugs have been made available online as was the case here. That is something I intend to take further and explore in more detail."