Experts Weigh In After Chris Hyndman's Mother's 'Sleepwalking' Suggestion

TORONTO — A mother's suggestion that her son, TV personality Chris Hyndman, plunged to his death while sleepwalking has shone a light on the dangers associated with the disorder.  

 

Glenda Hyndman told the Toronto Star that she believed her son fell to his death while sleepwalking on the terrace of the downtown Toronto home he shared with his professional and personal partner Steven Sabados. 

 

Sleep researchers say there have been documented cases in which sleepwalkers engage in very complex activities and wind up inflicting harm on themselves or others. However, they say those cases make up the extreme minority of the situations they encounter.

 

Hyndman, co-star of CBC fashion and design show "Steven and Chris," was found lying in an alleyway just outside of his home late on Monday evening. Police have not identified a cause of death but have suggested that there is no criminal investigation underway.

 

Colleen Carney, director of the Sleep and Depression Laboratory at Ryerson University, said Hyndman's death would be a tragic rarity if it was caused by a fatal sleepwalking accident.

 

"Injuries during sleepwalking tend to be mild, but there's tremendous variability in sleepwalking and also the severity of it," Carney said in a telephone interview.

 

Somnanbulance is already an unusual disorder to encounter in adults.

 

Dr. Sat Sharma, medical director for Toronto's Centre for Sleep and Chronobiology, said that less than one per cent of the adult population suffers from the condition that is most prevalent in childhood.

 

Sharma said the majority of sleepwalkers confine themselves to wandering aimlessly in their homes and usually find themselves unable to perform complex tasks like unlocking doors or taking themselves further afield.

 

Such actions are possible, though, for those with particularly grave conditions. Sharma said risk of injury is "very serious" in such instances.