On April 28, 2022, an Irish man named Jasper Kraus was found dead after being viciously attacked by a Brahma chicken, as reported by the Irish Examiner. An inquest was held to investigate his death.
Kraus’ daughter, Virginia Guinan, testified that she had found her dad in a pool of blood when she checked on him after hearing of the incident.
Corey O’Keeffe, a tenant at the farm, reported hearing Kraus screaming and seeing blood spurt from his leg. O’Keeffe called emergency services and was instructed to perform CPR, but it was too late.
The Irish Examiner reported that as Kraus drifted in and out of consciousness, he mumbled the word “rooster,” affirming O’Keeffe’s suspicions that a chicken was the cause of the fatal injury. Also, O’Keeffe noticed a trail of blood leading to the chicken house and said that the same “aggressive” chicken had previously attacked a child.
Dr. Annette Jennings, who was present when paramedics were trying to revive Kraus, stated that the circumstances of the death were quite extraordinary, given that a chicken had inflicted a wound on his left calf.
Dr. Ramadan Shatwan, who conducted the autopsy, said that his face was covered in dry blood, but no cuts were visible. He also reported that both of the lower limbs were stained with blood. He then concluded that the cause of death was due to a lethal cardiac arrhythmia in correlation with a severe coronary atheroma and cardiomegaly.
When asked by Guinan if her father had suffered a heart attack, Dr. Shatwan agreed and added that the blood flow to his heart was “severely calcified.” Ms. Guinan noted that her family knew of the man’s poor heart condition.
As reported by the outlet, the coroner concluded the cause of death as “misadventure,” noting that Kraus also appeared to have suffered a heart attack during the assault. The chicken responsible had previously attacked Kraus’ granddaughter and was sent to the farm as a result.