LEARY, Joseph
| Service Number: | 7600 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 14th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | 1899, place not yet discovered |
| Home Town: | Not yet discovered |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Not yet discovered |
| Died: | Accidentally Poisoned, Proserpine Hospital, Proserpine, Queensland, Australia, 8 September 1922 |
| Cemetery: |
Proserpine General Cemetery, Qld OP7 GRAVE 183 |
| Memorials: |
World War 1 Service
| 21 Nov 1917: | Involvement Private, 7600, 14th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '11' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Nestor embarkation_ship_number: A71 public_note: '' | |
|---|---|---|
| 21 Nov 1917: | Embarked Private, 7600, 14th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Nestor, Melbourne |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Faithe Jones
Brisbane, Monday.—Joseph Leary, a swagman, was poisoned by mistake in the Proserpine hospital. Strychnine was administered instead of quinine.
It appears that Leary arrived in Proserpine on Freday last from Mackay in search of work. He complained of felling unwell and visited the doctor at the Hospital who diagnosed his case as malaria, and prescribed 15 grains of Quinine. It is stated that the Matron entered the dispensary intending to administer the dose. She took down a bottle of Quinine and put on the table, when she was suddenly called out to attend a patient. On her returne, it is alleged she gave Leary what she thought was his prescribed dose, but liquid strychine was administed by mistake. A Stomach pump was used but was of no use, and Leary died soon afterwards.