Filipino healthcare worker died after starting fire in his apartment, inquest hears

Seán McCárthaigh

A Filipino healthcare worker who had been suspended from his job at a nursing home died in a fire at his city centre apartment two years ago, an inquest has heard.

Henry Delos Reyes (59), who was also known as Abby, suffered fatal injuries in the bedroom of his second-floor apartment on Capel Street, Dublin 1, on September 11th 2023.

An inquest into his death heard the severity of the injuries to the deceased meant he had to be identified by matching DNA samples taken from the body with those of his siblings in the Philippines.

A sitting of Dublin District Coroner’s Court on Thursday heard Mr Delos Reyes, who had lived in Ireland for over 16 years, had been suspended from his job as a healthcare assistant at the Nazareth House nursing home on Malahide Road, Dublin 3, in May 2023.

In a written statement, however, one of his work colleagues, Suzanne Byrne, said the incident had been “all blown out of proportion.”

“He was a lovely gentleman – the nicest person you could ever meet,” said Ms Byrne.

She said everyone supported him but he was devastated by what had happened.

“It did break him on another level,” Ms Byrne remarked.

She outlined how he stopped eating and was struggling financially.

Ms Byrne said his work colleagues at Nazareth House, as well as the families of some of the nursing home’s residents, had made a collection of around €1,000 for him which had “blown him away.”

She said she had become increasingly worried about him in the weeks before his death as she was unable to contact him, which was unusual.

Ms Byrne said everyone in Nazareth House was devastated at hearing of his death.

The inquest heard that Mr Delos Reyes had been prescribed anti-depressants by his GP, Dr Ban Mustafa, because of his low mood at the time.

While he had suicidal thoughts, Dr Mustafa said his patient had no plans to take his own life because of his family back in the Philippines.

Mr Delos Reyes’ flatmate, Marian Chua, said she noticed in May 2023 that he was staying in his apartment during his normal working hours, but he claimed it was due to the nursing home’s summer schedule with students working instead of him.

Ms Chua said he was a very private person who rarely spoke and always went straight into his bedroom when in the apartment.

She told the inquest that the last interaction she had with him was in July 2023 when he asked her if she could pay their full electricity bill as he had no money to pay for it.

The inquest heard the building’s landlord, James Norton, had called at the apartment on the evening before he died, looking to speak to Mr Delos Reyes because the rent had not been paid for several months.

On the afternoon of September 11th, 2023, Ms Chua said she returned to the apartment and knocked on her flatmate’s door as she needed to talk to him about the rent but she got no answer.

Sometime later, she heard the fire alarm go off before hearing a loud explosion followed by smoke billowing from Mr Delos Reyes’ bedroom.

Ms Chua recalled shouting at him as the apartment became engulfed in black smoke and seeing his body sitting on a couch surrounded by fire.

She said his body was “completely still and already charred.”

Ms Chua said she could not enter the room because of the smoke and the heat and quickly tried to gather some of her belongings before getting out of the building.

A firefighter with Dublin Fire Brigade, Liam Caffrey, who attended the scene, told the inquest that the heat from the blaze would have reached temperatures of up to 600ºC.

The inquest heard a postmortem had concluded that Mr Delos Reyes died as a result of a combination of burns and inhalation of combustible materials from the fire, while tests for alcohol and other drugs were negative.

The coroner, Cróna Gallagher, reassured relatives of the deceased, who attended the hearing via videolink, that he was not alive for very long after the fire started.

Dr Gallagher noted that a report from Forensic Science Ireland had found evidence of the presence of an accelerant from debris taken from the apartment, and it was believed the fire was started on the couch in the deceased’s bedroom.

Detective Garda Mairead Murphy told the coroner that she found a diary in the apartment in which Mr Delos Reyes had stated in the last entry: “I have lost everything in my life since May 4, 2023.”

He also thanked his colleagues in Nazareth House and expressed a wish to be cremated.

Det Garda Murphy confirmed that the deceased had been suspended from his job at the time of his death while an investigation by the nursing home was being carried out, but that “nothing had been finalised.”

In reply to questions from the coroner, Det Garda Murphy said she was satisfied that Mr Delos Reyes had taken his own life.

Recording a verdict of suicide, Dr Gallagher said the deceased may have been overwhelmed at some point and may have become impulsive on the day of his death.

The coroner also observed that the functioning of the smoke alarms had definitely saved other lives that day.

Describing what happened as “a terrible tragedy,” Dr Gallagher said it was clear that the deceased was very obviously not only valued but loved as a colleague and friend.