Tributes to toddler who drowned at party

TRIBUTES were yesterday paid to the Waterford toddler who drowned at a family barbecue on Saturday.

In a poignant note the family of 23-month-old Sarah Kate Frost said she had made a special impact in her short life.

“You are so loved and so missed by Daddy, Mummy, Robert and Julianna and everybody whose lives you’ve touched in such a special way,” it said.

Sarah Kate drowned in a garden pond on Saturday evening at a barbecue to celebrate the Holy Communion of her cousin.

The girl, who would shortly have celebrated her second birthday, lived in the Williamstown Village estate, close to where she died and a mile from Waterford Regional Hospital where she was taken for a post mortem.

Her parent’s Michael and Aine had two other children Robert and Julianna.

Yesterday they published a short tribute to Sarah along with her grandparents, Michael and Bernie Frost and Con and Una Cleary.

“You belong to us little Sarah, but God wanted you too. So now you are in Heaven with all the little angels,” it said.

At midday yesterday Sarah was brought to St Joseph’s and Benildus Church, Newtown, Waterford for her Funeral Mass.

She was later brought back to her father’s native parish of Cratloe, Co Clare last night where she was buried.

Meanwhile gardaí still haven’t named the teenage girl who was drowned while trying to save the life of her young sister at Inchydoney beach, west Cork, on Saturday evening.

She dived into the water in the channel near the Dunmore House Hotel when her 11-year-old sister got into difficulty.

However, she herself got into trouble in the current and rescue crews were called after the alarm was raised by a French tourist. The girl had died by the time they arrived.

She was on holiday with her family and drowned in a stretch of water notorious among local bathers.

Both girls died just two days before the National Water Safety Awareness Week began yesterday.

As part of this, a life-saving guide will be launched by the Minister of State for Overseas Development Michael Kitt in Dublin today. Mr Kitt said it was important children were reminded of the dangers of water.

“Children need advice on how best to stay safe in and around water,” he said.