My Limerick Story of the Year - haunting last words of dying Limerick teenager to her mother

THERE are stories that haunt you and words you will never forget.

Hearing the brave and eloquent Carolyn O'Neill talking about her daughter Niamh McNally at her inquest is something this reporter will always carry.

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I remember meeting Carolyn by chance in her beautiful local arts and crafts shop in Kilmallock.

With a reporter hat on, I had ventured into the shop to chat about possibly doing a feature interview on the gift shop. Instead, I left with a heavy heart, unable to imagine the pain of the woman I had just spoken to.

While we chatted, Mrs O'Neill told me about her beautiful daughter and how she is always with her, as she brought out a tiny urn from behind the desk (pictured on top of the frame with Niamh's photo). As a parent, I cannot imagine losing a child of 16.

I was shaken, which doesn't often happen.

Just two weeks later, I met Mrs O'Neill again, this time in an unfamiliar place for her, and a well travelled ground for me - at an inquest in Limerick Coroner's Court in Kilmallock Courthouse.

Over the course of two days, the coroner heard that Niamh was a vibrant 16-year-old girl who was full of life, despite a congenital heart defect and having DiGeorge syndrome.

Niamh had been in hospital for 14 days coughing up blood, was discharged and returned six days later with the same symptoms and tragically died.

Just before she died, the young teenager said to her mother: “Mammy, I can't breathe.” Mrs O'Neill who showed tremendous courage and composure throughout her evidence broke down at this point.

Those words will always stay with me. Niamh was 16. She should have travelled to New York liked she had hoped. She should have lived.