Family, pupils bid farewell as teenager laid to rest

HER chair will be empty in the exam hall but the memories 17-year-old Teresa Norris left behind are rich and full.

So said Patrick Callanan, Teresa’s school principal at Comeragh Vocational College in Carrick-on-Suir, Co Tipperary, where she was a pupil until her untimely death last Monday.

Yesterday Teresa, from Tracey Park in Carrick-on-Suir, was laid to rest at nearby St Mary’s cemetery, just one week after the schoolgirl developed flu-like symptoms.

She was treated at St Joseph’s Hospital in Clonmel for pneumonia but, by the time she was admitted, it was already too late.

The circumstances of her death are similar to those of 37-year-old Margaret Courtney, a mother-of-five, from Laytown, Co Meath, who died on February 2 after failing to get appropriate medical care.

She too displayed flu-like symptoms but doctors failed to diagnose pneumonia.

It is understood Teresa died of heart failure although the results of her post mortem were not made public.

She had visited two GPs in the week prior to her death, as well as Caredoc in Clonmel.

She was not hospitalised until the day of her death.

Speaking at her funeral Mass in St Nicholas’s Church yesterday, Mr Callanan said it was tragic to lose a pupil so young, talented and creative.

“It’s terrible to lose the baby of the family, we’ll all miss her. She would have started her trial Leaving Cert exams shortly and now her chair in the exam hall will be empty.”

Speaking to a church packed with classmates, family, friends and laden with floral tributes, Mr Callanan spoke of Teresa’s involvement in the debs committee and of her plans for a trip to Turkey with friends.

The school choir, in a tribute to Teresa’s love of music, sang her favourite song - Puff Daddy’s revamp of the Police classic Every Breath You Take.

Fr Richard Geoghegan, who presided over the Mass, said it was unfair they had gathered to mark the end of a life so young, that it was “against the grain of society for a parent to stand at the graveside of a child”.

Before the altar sat a portrait of Teresa, decorated with musical notes.

Family members performed the offertory, bearing gifts which included a hurley, reflecting Teresa’s love of camogie, a school jersey and a hair-straightener, symbolising her interest in hairdressing.

Classmates, who return to school next Monday after the mid-term break, formed a guard of honour at the cemetery.

All parents of pupils at Comeragh Vocational College have been contacted and advised a counselling service will be available at the school next week.

Teresa is survived by her parents, Eileen and James, and is the youngest of her six siblings.