The Irish Homecoming: God bless the children - tragedy in Galway reminds us how precious our families are

Death of two babies in tragic car crash in Tuam, Galway, makes April Drew realise there's nothting more important than family

Shortly before 2 p.m. a car plunged into the father, John, and the Phil and Teds double stroller (the exact same one I have) where the little girls were sitting in. The two girls are dead.

The father and driver of the car, who apparently suffered a seizure, are in hospital. It is reported that they will survive.

Why did this happen?  I ask.

I selfishly put myself in the mother Michelle’s position. It could have been my own husband John taking Colum and Sadie out for a walk while I got some me time or caught up with work or did some shopping. It could have been me at the other end of the line that the police phoned to say my babies were killed a few minutes earlier.

And selfishly I’m glad it’s not me. I wondered what the last words were that this poor mother said to her babies before she bid them farewell on their walk. When was the last time she hugged them?

There it goes. The first tear drops hard onto my keyboard and then the next and it doesn’t stop.

I cry for the loss of these two beautiful children. I cry for those they have left behind, and then through the ongoing tears I get angry. I’m angry at the loss of so many beautiful children.

I cry for the pain my friend Aileen in Co. Kerry and her family suffer every day for the past year and a half. Aileen lost one of her twin boys, Eanna, 19, to a brain tumor.

When diagnosed two years previous there was always hope he would survive, but he didn’t. It’s still hard to this day for all of us to comprehend that Eanna is not on this earth with us anymore, and why not?

What did he ever do wrong to have his life robbed from him at such a young age?  He was destined for big things, great things like his twin brother Darren.

While crying for Eanna I remember the Staunton family in New York and the heartache they are no doubt still suffering after losing their beautiful son Rory, 12, back in April. Rory died after contracting sepsis. He would be alive today if doctors diagnosed his condition earlier.

And then there is little Saoirse Heffernan whose family live in Co. Kerry. Saoirse died from Batten’s Disease two years ago at the young age of five.

Her family is still coming to terms with her loss but it gets worse. Their only other child Liam, 3, also has the fatal disease. They are amazing people who are very much living each day in the present surrounded by their adorable son who, like any three-year-old, brings endless joy and unconditional love to their lives.

A friend of mine whom I won’t mention personally just suffered the devastating heartbreak of a miscarriage. It was her fourth and she doesn’t have any children.

She can’t cope with it at the moment. I pray time and counseling will give her what she needs to get through this.

And the list goes on. Everyone reading this knows someone affected by the loss of a child.

We empathize with their loved ones, we share in their grief, we are there for them as much as possible and when weeks pass by we resume our own normality.

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Nster.com