Mum of teen, 16, killed in Navan hit-&-run reveals pain of funeral ‘forced goodbye’ & beloved dog’s actions before crash
THE mother of hit-and-run victim Mia Lily Keogh O’Keeffe has told of her pain after her child’s funeral.
The 16-year-old was killed, along with her dog Bowie, after being knocked down while crossing the Slane road in Navan, Co Meath.
She was just moments away from her home when she was struck by a car on Saturday, February 21.
A man in his 20s was arrested but later released without charge, with a file being prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions.
In a statement released following Mia Lily’s funeral on Friday, devastated mum Louise said: “We said goodbye to her yesterday. A goodbye none of us wanted to say.
“A forced goodbye, framed with grief and an apology to her that I felt I had to give.”
Louise told how dog Bowie tried to pull her daughter back twice before they left for a walk.
She added: “He knew something was wrong, and he still went with her, stayed by her side and followed her all the way.”
Louise told how the driver had started a “ripple,” adding: “You had no idea who you took, and you didn’t care to stop and try to help.
“You left her, and that tells me the type of person you are.
“Mistakes don’t determine a person, but actions do.”
Louise told how Mia Lily, who was a fifth-year student at Loreto secondary school in Navan, made such an impact on people because her kindness was immeasurable.
She said: “She put others before herself and took such pride in her efforts to make others happy.”
Louise also explained how Mia Lily’s death has left her siblings heartbroken and confused.
She added: “My daughter is without her only sister, and her baby brothers are so confused. They play and then something hits them that everything is not okay.
“My eight-year-old son told me to hug him and pretend it’s her, ‘it will make you feel better mam.’
“My five-year-old told me he would give her his whole heart to let her be alive. My two year old stared at her lying in her coffin with a look of such confusion.
“These are the memories you’ve forced into three childhoods.
“My five-year-old child wanted to make a speech, so we let him, thinking he might say how much he loved her. Instead, quoting something he will obviously never forget, he said he remembers my screams.
“You took one child, but in reality you’ve destroyed them all by forcing their lives into this turmoil and horrific tragedy that they will never get over.
“May God have mercy on your soul.”
A GoFundMe page set up by a close relative has raised over €40,000 for the teenager’s family.
