THE MOTHER OF 16-year-old Mia Lily Keogh O’Keeffe, who died in a hit-and-run in Navan, Co Meath last weekend, has shared a statement describing the lasting trauma her daughter’s death has inflicted on her family.
Mia Lily was struck by a car while out walking her dog on the Slane Road shortly after 8pm on Saturday. The driver left the scene.
A man in his 20s was arrested as part of the Garda investigation but was later released without charge. Gardaí have said a file will be prepared for the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.
Following her daughter’s funeral yesterday, Louise Keogh O’Keeffe said the family had been forced to say 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,” she said.
She described feelings of guilt as a mother in the aftermath of the collision.
“The guilt you’ve made me feel as a mother, that this is my fault, that I should have stopped her.”
In her statement, Louise said Mia Lily’s dog, Bowie, had attempted to stop her from leaving the house that evening.
“Bowie tried to stop her twice. He pulled her back at the door before she left. He knew something was wrong, and he still went with her, stayed by her side and followed her all the way.”
More than €42,000 has been raised through an online fundraiser to support Mia Lily’s family since her death.
Her funeral took place in St Oliver’s Church in Blackcastle yesterday morning. Friends and classmates from Loreto St Michael’s lined the church entrance holding pink and white roses as her coffin arrived.
In her statement today, Louise described the impact of her daughter’s death on her siblings.
“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,” Louise said.
She recounted how her children have struggled to process what has happened.
“My 8 year old son told me to hug him and pretend it’s her, “it will make you feel better mam.” My 5 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.”
Louise said her five-year-old son had asked to make a speech at the funeral.
“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.”
Mia Lily’s death was one of seven fatalities on roads across Ireland and Northern Ireland last weekend.
The Road Safety Authority has described the series of collisions as a “stark reminder” of the risks faced by road users and extended its condolences to the families affected.
Gardaí have appealed to anyone who was travelling on the Slane Road in Navan between 7.45pm and 8.15pm on Saturday evening, and who may have camera footage, to contact them.
