“YOU will never get closure after losing a loved one in a road accident” – the words of a young woman whose sister was killed by a drunk driver going against traffic on a motorway.
Catherine Flaherty (24) was inspired to join a volunteer group for those bereaved through road collisions after the tragedy.
The secretary for the recently formed Irish Road Victims’ Association (IRVA) told the Irish Independent that her family had been “destroyed” since the death of her sister, Delia, two years ago.
On June 28, 2011, a drunk driver drove 8km in the wrong direction down the M6 motorway before killing herself and 33-year-old Delia Flaherty, Catherine’s sister, in a head-on collision.
Delia had been making her way from her job as a social worker in Dublin to meet Catherine in Galway city.
An inquest into the collision found that Offaly woman Helen Gonoude drove against the flow of traffic on the M6 motorway from Athlone to Moate for 8km while she was two-and-a-half times over the legal alcohol limit.
Doctors were initially hopeful for Delia, but three days after the crash she died in Beaumount Hospital with severe brain injuries.
“You hear of collisions every week in the year, but nobody ever imagines that it could happen to their own family,” said Catherine. “We are begging people to be more careful on Irish roads. There is no excuse for taking liberties.”
The IRVA is an NGO that supports those bereaved or injured by road collisions. It is made up mainly by people who themselves have lost loved ones.
For more information, visit www.irva.ie or email irva@eircom.net.
