Funeral of tragic drowning victim takes place on Thursday

The funeral for the 6-year-old who died following a drowning tragedy at the hotel she was staying in on the Spanish island of Majorca takes place tomorrow afternoon (Thursday) in St Michael’s Church Creeslough.

Grace Mary Sweeney of Knocknafaugher, Dunfanaghy and Waterfoot, Co Antrim died on Wednesday of last week, two days after being taken from a swimming pool at the four-star HYB Eurocalas Hotel in the east coast resort of Calas de Mallorca.

The youngster was rushed to hospital “in a critical condition” on Monday afternoon with police clearing a path for her ambulance so she could get there as quickly as possible.

A spokeswoman for a regional government-run emergency coordination centre had said: “We took a call around 3.40pm on Monday to say lifeguards had spotted a young girl lying motionless on the bottom of the pool and dived in to rescue her.

“They performed CPR on her after pulling her out of the water because she had gone into cardiac arrest.

“Paramedics continued to try to revive her after reaching the scene and got her breathing again in the back of the ambulance."

She was taken to Son Espases Hospital where she later passed away. A routine police investigation into the incident is ongoing.

She is survived by her mother Geraldine, sister Cara and brother Patrick, and Geraldine’s partner Damien, her grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and extended family and friends. She was predeceased by her dear father John in a tragic accident in London a number of years ago.

Requiem Mass takes place at 12 noon with burial afterward in Doe Cemetery. It can be viewed on https://www.mcnmedia.tv/Camera/st-michaels-church

The family has requested there be family flowers only with donations in lieu, if desired, to The Kevin Bell Repatriation Trust. c/o any family member or James Harkin, funeral director, Creeslough.