The death of a Whitehorse man last Saturday after he fell down a flight of stairs has prompted an investigation by the territory’s chief coroner.

Twenty-five-year-old Stephen Coad tumbled down a flight of stairs last Friday evening, chief coroner Kirsten Macdonald told the Star today.

“The family in the home helped him into bed,” she said.

“They checked on him several times throughout the evening.”

The next morning, they went to check on him, but he was unresponsive.

“He couldn’t be woken, but was still alive,” said Macdonald.

Coad was then taken to Whitehorse General Hospital (WGH).

“At the hospital, it was revealed he had suffered a significant head injury in the fall,” she said.

“He was pronounced deceased on January 2nd at WGH.”

Macdonald has launched an investigation into Coad’s death, and said it would be completed within the next few weeks.

The chief coroner has the ability to make recommendations to prevent future similar deaths depending on the circumstances of a case.

Coad’s family has set up an online fundraising campaign to pay for the funeral costs “and other costs that come along in this situation,” Jen Coad wrote on the Go Fund Me page dedicated to Coad.

“We are raising money for the sudden passing of our brother Stephen,” she wrote.

“He was a 25-year-old healthy man.

He was in an accident and went down fast! We are all sad and have a lot going on and need to do a lot in the next week and a half. “

While not commenting about the case itself, the Yukon’s deputy chief medical officer of health urged people to contact the Yukon 811 health line in case of a doubt about their health.

“Yukoners are a pretty self-sufficient bunch,” said Dr. Catherine Elliott.

“It’s a matter of knowing that you can call, it’s free, (and) that helpline is meant to be used for anything.”

Operating around the clock, 811 is staffed by registered nurses.

In the case of a potential head injury, nurses and doctors will look at a number of criteria to determine whether a visit to the ER is warranted, said Elliott.

Changes in eye opening, verbal responses, movement, as well as bruising around the head or neck and repeated vomiting, would be signs for the injury to be considered serious, she said.

The mechanism that leads to the injury is also part of the nurse’s assessment: was the person hit by a car? Did he or she fall on the floor? Was the person thrown out of a vehicle?

“This cluster of symptoms and signs have been proven to be quite effective in determining serious head injury,” said Elliott.

Symptoms for children are different, she added.

For an elderly person, a head injury can be considered serious just because of the age of the person involved.

The bottom line is: in case of a doubt, call 811.

“We see too many accidental deaths in the Yukon,” said Elliott, adding that a lot of those involve recreational vehicle use.

“We need to prevent what we can,” she said.

As of press time early this afternoon, the online fundraising campaign had raised $390 of the $7,000-goal.

The “Remembering Stephen” page is available at gofundme.com/h8hfg47g.