‘Harvey was a special person for a lot of people’

A HEARTBROKEN father buried his baby son yesterday as his partner recovered in hospital from the car crash earlier this week which claimed their child’s life.

Amid scenes of intense grief, Eddie Burns carried the tiny white coffin containing the remains of 10-month-old baby Harvey Desmond Burns from Macroom Church in Co Cork after an emotional funeral Mass. Harvey died in Cork University Hospital (CUH) in the early hours of Thursday morning from injuries he sustained in a two-car head-on collision just outside Lissarda, on the main Cork to Killarney road, on Tuesday afternoon.

Harvey’s mother, Deborah Desmond, 21, who was driving one of the cars and who was seriously injured, was unable to attend the funeral.

She was being comforted by close friends at CUH throughout the day as she continued her recovery.

Hundreds of mourners packed the church for a Mass of the Angels yesterday. Harvey’s tiny white coffin was placed on a table before the altar — a framed photograph of a smiling Deborah holding the little boy was placed on top.

Before the Mass began, people filed past to offer their condolences to Eddie, his parents Seanie and Sally, and Deborah’s parents, John and Kay.

Chief celebrant, Fr Gerard Coleman, led prayers for Deborah’s recovery, and for the recovery of the mother and three children from Inchigeela who were in the other car, and who were also injured in the crash.

Despite Harvey’s short life, he had become very precious to a lot of people, he said. “One thing that has become very clear over the past few days is how, in his preciously short life, Harvey was a special person for a lot of people. With great bravery and courage, he had struggled to live, until at last his strength gave up on him.”

The Desmond and Burns family had been surrounded by family and friends in the same church before Christmas for Harvey’s christening. Today, you are surrounded by family and friends to support you during your time of grief, he said.

Fr Coleman said Eddie and Deborah, who agreed to donate Harvey’s organs, and their families, could take some comfort from the fact that children elsewhere would lead better lives.

Mothers wept openly and parents clutched their children close as Eddie carried Harvey’s coffin from the church and placed it in a car for the short journey to St Colman’s Cemetery.

The town of Macroom stopped as the funeral cortege passed through.

Meanwhile, the woman who was driving the other car, and one of her children, remain in a comfortable condition in CUH. The two other children have been discharged from hospital.