Au pair’s spirit ‘lives on in child she saved’

THE father of a German au pair crushed to death by a truck in Cork earlier this year said yesterday his daughter’s spirit lives on through the life of the child she saved.

The child’s mother also said her family still fears that a similar accident could happen again and called for immediate action to improve road and pedestrian safety.

Volkmar Naumburger, whose daughter, Nicole, 20, was killed while out walking baby Maeve Bosteels in Carrigaline town centre, on February 26, was speaking at a ceremony in the town yesterday where a park bench in a children’s playground was dedicated to her memory.

“Nicole now lives on in Maeve who is another daughter for us,” said an emotional Mr Naumburger.

Flanked by his wife Martina and daughter Christin, and speaking in German, Mr Naumburger, said he was convinced that it would have been an unbearable burden for Nicole had the accident had another outcome, and Maeve had been lost in her care.

The Naumburgers and the Bosteels then unveiled the plaque as Maeve, dressed in a pale blue dress and who will be two next month, played happily at their feet. The inscription on the plaque reads: “A true heroine. Nicole’s love of children and gentleness will never be forgotten.”

Mr Naumburger said he was certain the six months Nicole lived in Ireland had been the best in her “all too short life.” He also spoke of the shock of learning of his daughter’s sudden death. “The good luck which had accompanied our Nicole up to then, especially here in Ireland, in Carrigaline, had left her for a split second.”

He said it will take his family years to cope with “this dreadful disaster.” “Believe me, my family and I will never be able to forget the sympathy with which you, the people of Carrigaline, commemorated our daughter,” he said.

“Deep from my inner heart I want to thank you for all this in the name of my whole family. Our biggest gratitude, however, goes to the two families, Bosteels and McCarthys. Both families did everything that anyone could have done for Nicole and us. They did this with such love as if she had been their own daughter.

“That our daughter Nicole is being commemorated in such a way here today is a tribute, honour, and respect which we sincerely appreciate and which we will never forget,” he said.

Afterwards, Meave’s mother Finola spoke of the special bond between her daughter and Nicole and said her family is “simply lost” without her.

“After Nicole’s death, we discovered that she had been writing a story for Maeve to keep. It records many of the events which occurred while Nicole was with us and is a treasure for Maeve to have,” she said.