The mother of a Chloe Kinsella, the 15-year-old Limerick girl whose body was recovered from the Shannon river earlier this month, has spoken of her devastating loss and urged other teenagers to seek help if they are feeling down.
Shirley Kinsella was speaking yesterday at a special event to honour seven groups involved in the search for Chloe who was found six days after she went missing from her home at Kenyon Avenue in Kileely.
Limerick gardaÃ, Civil Defence, Abbeyfeale and District Search and Rescue, the Irish Coast Guard, Bunratty and Mallow Search and Rescue teams, and Limerick Marine Search and Rescue received plaques of gratitude at a special ceremony in St Munchin’s Community Centre in Limerick.
It was from here that hundreds of volunteers gathered on a daily basis to take part in the search for the missing teenager who was eventually found just yards from the home she shared with her parents and siblings.
Ms Kinsella, a mother of seven, praised all those involved in the search for her daughter, and also warned about the dangers of alcohol for young people.
“If one of those little friends that was with Chloe came down and just had a look at me and the devastation that I’m going through they wouldn’t even think about touching drink again.”
Ms Kinsella, whose four- year-old daughter Sophie died from a heart illness in 2004, urged all young people to get advice if they are feeling down.
“I never thought for one minute she would do that. I never thought for one second. But I would tell them [young people] to think. They don’t need it, [alcohol] they are beautiful little children, there is plenty for them to do out there.
“Go seek help if you think you are down and out, go and seek help off somebody, that’s the advice I would give them.”
In a powerful homily, at Chloe’s funeral Mass, Rev Pat Seaver also warned against the dangers of alcohol. He said the Kinsella family did not want any other parents to suffer such a devastating loss.
