'Horrendous tragedy': Mother-of-three dies after using phone in bath as husband demands safety warning
Ann-Marie O'Gorman, 46, was electrocuted to death after using a plugged-in device while in the water at her home in Santry, Dublin
The husband of a mother-of-three who died after using her phone in the bath while it was plugged in to the mains has called for more prominent risk warnings on electronic devices.
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Ann-Marie O'Gorman, 46, was electrocuted to death after using a plugged-in device while in the water at her home in Santry, Dublin.
Her husband Joe O'Gorman said many people have become complacent because companies such as Apple advertise their devices as waterproof, luring them into a "false illusion of safety".
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An inquest at Dublin District Coroner's Court heard how Mr O'Gorman found his wife unresponsive in the en-suite bathroom of their family on October 30, 2024.
He had been driving home just before 8pm, after leaving the property to drop off his daughter, when he called his wife at a time he thought she may have already been in the bath, the court heard.
When he walked through the door and entered the bathroom, he told the corner he found Mrs O'Gorman lying unresponsive on her side in the bath.
Mr O'Gorman said he noticed his wife's iPhone and its cable, which had been plugged into a three-metre extension cable in their bedroom, in the water and immediately threw it in a nearby sink.
As he lifted her from the bath, he received a "small electric shock" and told his eldest daughter, Leah, to call the emergency services, while he started to administer CPR.
While doing so, he said he noticed red marks on his wife’s hands and chest.
Although Mrs O'Gorman suffered from both Von Willebrand disease (a blood-clotting condition) and Graves’ disease (a thyroid condition), the inquest heard she was "fit and healthy" and attended a gym at 6am every morning.
Having initially thought his wife had fallen asleep in the bath, Mr O'Gorman told the coroner he immediately knew what happened after seeing her iPhone in the bath, the Mirror reported.
If it wasn't for the flip-flops he was wearing, Mr O'Gorman believes he would have received a larger shock when lifting her out of the bath.
Mr O'Gorman complained to the court that there is no warning on iPhones about the danger of coming in contact with water while they are being charged.
He made reference to another man who died in similar circumstances in London in March 2017 and the death of a child in the US linked to having a charging mobile phone in a bath.
Mr O'Gorman wanted warnings about the hazard created by charging a mobile phone in a bathroom displayed prominently on the outside of packaging of all electronic devices.
He wanted the message to go out so that it could save one other person’s life.
"The only thing you hear about is how these phones are great in up to six feet of water. It gives people the idea that you can have your phone near water," said Mr O’Gorman.
"There should be warnings that this is dangerous," he observed.
He added: "There’s nothing being done about this whatsoever by any provider to say this is a hazard you could die from. That is all that people have to know."
State pathologist Heidi Okkers, who carried out a post-mortem on Ms O’Gorman’s body, also gave evidence at the inquest.
She said the electrocution-type burns on the deceased's chest and left arm as well as full thickness burns to her right index finger and thumb.
The pathologist said there was no evidence that any other health condition was a contributory factor in Ms O’Gorman’s death, while toxicology tests showed she had no alcohol or drugs in her body.
She attributed the cause of death as electrocution by a charging cable and phone while in a bath.
Dr Okkers explained that the electric charge that flowed through the victim’s body would have interfered with her normal heart rhythm.
There was no evidence that Ms O’Gorman had drowned as no bathwater had been found in her lungs.
Consultant forensic engineer Paul Collins told the inquest the cable was just long enough to allow a phone to be held by someone in the bath with their left hand.
According to Mr Collins, it appeared the phone had fallen in the water and Ms O’Gorman’s right-hand finger came into contact with the handle of a shower attachment as she tried to retrieve it, which caused the the electric current to pass through her body.
The engineer added that an an electric current of just 2 amps, which is typical for mobile phone chargers, was "more than enough" to kill a person.
Mr Collins said he had found no fault with either the phone, the charger or the cable.
He stressed that people should not take mobile phones into a bathroom, adding: "Leave it on a dressing table. It doesn’t matter if it’s being charged or not."
When asked if there would be no risk of danger if Ms O’Gorman’s phone had not been charging while she was in the bath, Mr Collins did not comment.
Coroner Dr Gallagher observed that electricity sockets were not generally found in bathrooms in the EU because of the real danger posed by electrical equipment coming in contact with water.
She said she would consider which parties needed to be notified about the concerns raised at the inquest and would contact them in due course.
Although she noted that Mr O’Gorman’s criticism was directed at Apple, Dr Gallagher said it was a wider issue as she believed the use of electronic devices in bathrooms had become quite common.
She returned a verdict of death by misadventure because of the risk factor associated with the use of a mobile phone in a bath.
The coroner offered her condolences to Ms O’Gorman’s family on what she described as "a horrendous tragedy".