OCALA, Fla. – The hyperbaric chamber that exploded last week at an equine rehabilitation center, killing a woman and the horse, had known issues, according to a Marion County sheriff's report released Thursday.
Deputies said in an interview, Sorcha Moneley, the woman that survived the explosion in KESMARC Florida, told them she was aware that there were some problems with the valves on the chamber leaking.
According to the report, KESMARC Florida manager Leonora Byrne had contacted the hyperbaric chamber facility in Kentucky twice requesting an engineer to look at the chamber. The company told Byrne they would send someone when they could and for the time being, the chamber could be manually operated to regulate the pressure, the report said.
Moneley told deputies she was aware of some heated emails and arguments between Byrne and the Kentucky facility concerning the chamber. The owner of KESMARC Kentucky said she has not been affiliated with the Florida facility for two years and doesn't own the hyperbaric chamber or the company that makes the chamber.
She said she doesn't want to comment out of respect for the victims.
It's not clear if the valve issue is what caused the explosion.
Moneley also gave deputies details of events leading up to the explosion, saying she was 20 feet away from the chamber room when the explosion occurred, killing Erica Marshall, 28, who was regulating the chamber.
Fire rescue officials said the horse, with a stable name of "Tux", started kicking while it was inside the chamber and the workers went to turn the chamber off when the explosion occurred.
She said she and Marshall were watching it all unfold on a monitor. Moneley said she ran to get help as soon as she saw the horse kicking and that's when the chamber exploded, according to the report.
Moneley said she fell to the ground describing it as if hot gas had surrounded her and took her breath away. She said the last thing she saw was Marshall staring at the monitor and crying, according to the report.
The report has conflicting accounts in the sheriff's report on if the horse was in fact sedated. Moneley told deputies that the horse was given a sedative but the manager said the horse didn't receive one.
The horse kicked off a protective shield inside of the oxygen-filled chamber and as the steel shoe as struck the side of chamber, it caused a spark and ignited instantly.
Horses are typically treated in a hyperbaric chamber after a vet prescribes it, officials said. It's not clear if the horse was prescribed treatment. Hyperbaric chambers are designed to push highly pressurized, pure oxygen into tissue to speed up recovery times for certain injuries.
Deputies said Marshall died at the scene. Her husband said she died doing what she loved. Her funeral is being held Friday.
Moneley, 32, was airlifted to Shands with serious injuries and underwent surgery.
OSHA also launched an investigation and has not released any findings.