Remains of Irish doctor found
Dr Jane Deasy, 27, was one of just 51 passengers whose remains have been located since the Air France flight carrying 228 people broke up over the Atlantic on route between Rio de Janeiro and Paris on May 31.
The young doctor was due to start a new job at the Royal Victoria Eye and Ear Hospital in Dublin today, following in the footsteps of her father, Joseph, a consultant oncologist at Beaumont Hospital in the capital.
Minster for Foreign Affairs, Micheál Martin confirmed the positive identification yesterday and said an Irish embassy official in the Brazilian port city of Recife, from where the search operation was being co-ordinated, was liaising with the Brazilian authorities to arrange the repatriation of Dr Deasy’s remains.
“The family of Dr Jane Deasy has been informed that her remains have been positively identified as among those found in the aftermath of the Air France flight AF447 crash,” he said in a statement. “I reiterate my sincerest condolences to Dr Deasy’s family and to all those who lost loved ones in this terrible tragedy.”
Dr Deasy’s family appealed for privacy.
Dr Deasy, from Rathgar, Dublin was holidaying in Brazil with her close friends, Dr Aisling Butler, 26, from Roscrea, Co Tipperary and Dr Eithne Walls, 28, from Ballygowan, Co Down, and were on the first leg of their journey home to Ireland when their Airbus 330 vanished from radar.
The three had met as medical students at Trinity College and graduated together in July 2007. All three had also worked as interns at Tallaght Hospital before going on to pursue specialist interests in the past year.
The daughter of Beaumont Hospital surgeon Joseph Deasy, Dr Deasy is also survived by her mother Barbara and sisters, Alison and Caragh. The family held a Mass for her last month but will now be able to make arrangements for her funeral.
The Butler and Walls families are still awaiting news from Brazil but the chances of recovering any more victims’ remains are now very slim. Brazil’s air force and navy, which located the first signs of the crash site within days of the plane disappearance, called off their search for other victims and further wreckage last Friday after failing to make any new discoveries for over a week.
The French have not said when they intend to wind up their own search operations but the plane’s black box flight recorder which it was hoped would contain valuable clues as to the cause of the crash has not yet been found.
It emits a signal to help searchers pinpoint its location but its power is expected to run down any day now.
