The heartbroken father of the 14-year old boy killed in a Galway crash on Monday morning has issued an appeal to teenagers not to go out in cars and put their lives at risk.
Joe Joyce, whose son Lukas was one of two teenagers to die in an early morning crash outside Headford last Monday, appealed to young people not to think they are invincible and asked them to think of their parents before they took risks.
Mr Joyce said that he and Lukas’ mother Neringa were no longer parents as a result of the single vehicle accident which happened outside Headford at 5.45am on Monday morning.
Kirsty Bohan, another 14-year old second year student at Presentation College Headford, also died in the accident. Two other pupils of the school, a 13-year old boy and 14-year old girl, are being treated for multiple injuries at University Hospital Galway.
Mr Joyce, in an emotional speech which lasted over half an hour at St Brendan’s Church in Annaghdown, said that he cannot believe Lukas is gone.
“He was like a little brother to me. He was with me on the farm or in the workshop or beside me in the van ever since he was three or four,” he told the packed congregation which spilled out in the churchyard and onto the road outside.
Mr Joyce issued an appeal to teenagers not to take risks and not to think they are capable of taking a car onto the road.
“What has happened is unreal,” he said. “What’s going on I don’t know but I have heard a lot this week but if I’d known earlier I would have put a stop to it. I saw parents yesterday and they walked around Lukas’ coffin and looking in at him and they were probably saying ‘that could be my son’.
“All I’m asking you, young people, it is not a joke, it is really serious. You might think it is good for Snapchat or whatever you are doing it for.
“You are not able to drive a car, don’t think you are. Think of your parents. Parents work all week to provide for ye. They go to sleep at bed at night, do you want them to wake up to see if the car is outside the backdoor? Or see ye gone with it?
“I’ve heard the stories this week. It’s not fair on your parents. I’m not a parent any more, Neringa is not a parent any more. That’s all I have to say … stop it.”
Read the full report on www.examiner.ie
Tags:
