According to the burial service, a student who passed away in the hospital a few days after falling from an upper story of student housing in Cork was a “gift beyond measure” for his family due to his positive outlook on life and his kind disposition, reports The Mirror.
Darragh McCarthy, 21, a second-year Munster Technological University student from Carrigagour, Midleton, Co Cork, passed away in a hospital last Tuesday.
Around 4 a.m. on March 6, he fell from the Eden Hall complex on Model Farm Road in the city and was transported to CUH. They are treating the situation as an accident, reports The Mirror.
At the Church of the Most Holy Rosary in Midleton, his father Niall informed mourners that his son had suffered “catastrophic injuries” from which there was “no hope” of recovery.
He pointed out, poignantly, that Darragh had been weighed at the hospital twice in his life: once at birth and again in his last days.
“Our Darragh was born on the 07/07/2003. He first weighed in a beautiful baby boy at 7lbs 6oz and he was measured at 53 centimetres. The second time Darragh was weighed in hospital was last week. He came in at 6ft 2 inches and 101kg. A fine cut of a young fella,” reports The Mirror.
A child’s death, Niall said, is the “ultimate loss which should not befall any family.”
“We didn’t have too many tantrums or teenage dramas as he had a steady and relaxed calm way about him. He never gave us reason to worry. His signature shoulder squeezes were just what everyone needed after a stressful day,” reports The Mirror.
“The eldest of our three children Darragh was a typical big brother. Loving without demonstrating it in the obvious ways he showed his love by wanting the best (for his siblings) Aisling and Niall Og. He was protective and caring but he was a tough coach and had high standards with Aisling – endless training sessions out in the garden. You dare not let him down on the field! It was easy for Darragh to develop friendships. He had the ability to light up a room with his big personality and his dress sense. But thankfully that dress sense changed after he met (his girlfriend) Sophie. But he did on occasion let it slip!” reports The Mirror.
Aisling McCarthy, in the meantime, read a poem called The Dash that her brother enjoyed.
“We are absolutely heartbroken. Our lives and our family will never be the same again. We are grateful to have had the years we had with Darragh. When medical intervention was exhausted in consultation with the doctors we made the decision to remove Darragh from life support. So when that decision was made we prepared as a family to let his body die. When the final support was removed we pulled the curtain around and gathered around Darragh. So as a father I wanted to make his journey wherever he has gone as comfortable for him as possible. I put my arms in under his torso and I put my head deep into his chest and my ear to his heart so his heart was beating and it got more faint, and more faint, and more faint until it stopped,” reports The Mirror.
The speaker of the poem considers the dash on a gravestone that separates the year of the person’s birth and the year of their passing.
The speaker clarifies that although the dash appears inconsequential, it truly symbolises everything the individual has accomplished throughout their time on this planet, reports The Mirror.
Fr. Mark Hehir, the mass’s chief celebrant, described Darragh as a “confident and charming young man” with a genuine “zest for life.”
According to Fr. Hehir, Darragh liked sports and accepted collegiate life. He addressed Sophie, Darragh’s girlfriend, directly. He said that she and Daragh had fallen in love and that she would always hold a particular place in her heart for him, reports The Mirror.
“Just last week, Darragh was playing wing-back for MTU. He won a medal and he won the final that night against DCU. Aoife and Niall (his parents) were there and saw nobody else on the pitch but their son bursting with pride they were to share in his victory,” reports The Mirror.
“A member of Midleton GAA, sport and his teammates were an integral part of his life. Darragh (also) loved to swim. Weather was never an issue. His life was lived to the full. He loved and laughed and he shared,” reports The Mirror.
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