Family’s punch death trauma

The sister of Thomas Keaney, who was killed by a single punch in Australia, has spoken of how her family continue to struggle to cope with the loss.

Earlier this week, 24-year-old Abbas Yahya Al Jrood, was sentenced to nine years in prison for the unprovoked one punch attack.

Mr Keaney, aged 23, from Ballyconneely in Galway, died 10 days after the fatal punch which caused him to hit his head on the pavement outside a kebab shop in December 2013.

His sister Lauren recalled the Christmas of 2013 when her family were informed that Thomas’s condition had deteriorated drastically.

“[On] Christmas Eve he took a turn for the worst and was found unresponsive and placed on life support from then. We were told Christmas Eve day and, off course, flights don’t go. Christmas Day was horrendous, you couldn’t imagine the loneliness you would have felt. Mom and Dad arrived in Perth on the 27th, where we decided to give up his organs and he was pronounced dead,” she told RTÉ’s Today with Seán O’Rourke.

Lauren pointed out her brother had left to go to Australia full of excitement only to come home in a coffin.

”I’ll never forget his going away party with all his friends. You couldn’t have gotten a bigger smile on him. He was so looking forward to going out and seeing the world. We so looked forward to picking him up at the terminal and seeing him and seeing the man he had become. To pick him up in customs in a box is not fair, not fair in any way,” she said.

However, she pointed out the year and a half since her brother was killed has been very difficult for the family, her father in particular.

“My dad is not handling it too great. My siblings, they have lost their older brother. You know, he was the rock for our family, he was my mom’s best friend. He was my dad’s namesake. You constantly look for him in everything you do, family occasions. Everything has been completely ruined because you just feel that something is missing and you can’t describe it,” she said.