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Louise James remembers family with
memorial walk
23.03.17
A YOUNG woman who lost
five members of her family in a drowning tragedy has
urged people to help her "do something positive" to
mark the one-year anniversary of the devastating
accident.
Louise James who lost her partner, her two sons, her
mother and sister at Buncrana Pier, will join
friends and supporters tomorrow for the McGrotty/Daniels
Memorial Walk in aid of ‘The Evan McGrotty Research
Fund’.
Ms James’ youngest son Evan, who died in the tragedy
on March 20, 2016, suffered from Duchenne Muscular
Dystrophy.
She said the memorial walk would help raise vital
funds for clinical research into the life-limiting
condition. |
“My youngest son, Evan,
was diagnosed with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy when
he was only three years of age. He lived with the
condition for the rest of his short life but never
let it define him and never let it defeat him," said
Ms James.
“The Buncrana tragedy was a devastating event in our
lives but I hope to do something positive on its
first anniversary and generate some support for the
campaign to find a cure for DMD.
"Our family and friends have been raising funds for
clinical research into the disease ever since Evan’s
diagnosis. It’s too late to help Evan now, but we
can still help other boys who have the same
life-limiting condition," Ms James said in a
statement released on her behalf last night.
The first anniversary mass took place in
Ballymagroarty, Derry, on Monday evening to remember
Sean McGrotty, 48; his sons Mark, 12, and Evan, 8;
the boys' grandmother Ruth Daniels, 58, and Ms
Daniels' daughter Jodie Lee Daniels,14.
They died when Mr McGrotty's 4x4 vehicle slid off
the slipway into the water at the end of a day-trip
to the seaside in Buncrana. |
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Louise James and Sean McGrotty |
The sole survivor of
the accident was Ms James' baby daughter, Rioghnach,
who was passed by her father to Kerrykeel man Davitt
Walsh, who had swum out to the stricken family.
Ms James urged local people to support the memorial
walk along Derry's Quay starting at 6pm on Friday,
March 24.
“I appeal to the public to join us on Friday
evening’s memorial walk and support the search for a
cure for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy," she added. |
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