Loss of 'shining star' André a 'tragic death no one can cope with', says heartbroken father
Carrigaline sporting clubs and members of the community line the streets as the remains of André Castro Ladeiro are brought to the Church of Our Lady and St John. Picture: Eddie O'Hare
An eight-year-old cyclist who died after being struck by a car last week was today remembered as a “shining star” who “would light up a room”.
André Ladeiro’s heartbroken father César fought through tears to pay tribute to his “baby giant”, who died on Wednesday, four days after the incident.
His passing is, he told mourners at the Church of Our Lady and St John in Carrigaline, Co Cork, “a tragic death no one can cope with”.
“Normally, stories begin in the beginning - not this one,” he said.
“It also does not start in the end.” He said people’s condolences bring the family both “comfort and distress”, adding that it makes them “cheer and cry, makes us angry and peaceful — it is a wrecking ball of emotion”.
César told mourners that after André was born in Portugal on December 22, 2014, his birth taught them that “we won’t be able to go for a drink whenever we want, we won’t be able to travel when we want, and we won’t be able to sleep”.
However, he said André taught them that “it's not ‘we want’ that is right here” and he showed César and André’s mother Filipa “how to be a father and a mother”.
Struggling to speak, he said: “He taught us how to live with our heart out of our body, how to smile every single day and be grateful.” He described the start of André’s new life in Ireland from August 19, 2019, as “a challenging one” and one that was “exactly four years ago today”.
Despite the challenges though, he wept as he said his son had “made this happy new life, him alone with just his brother, mum, and dad” and “found this wonderful community” in Carrigaline, where they lived.
It was, he said, a life “full of hopes and some fears”.
He said that to his family, Ireland’s Garden of Remembrance will always be “the final mark of André living in Ireland”.
The garden, created as a memorial to those who died for Irish freedom, is just five minutes’ walk from Temple Street Hospital, where the little boy died on Wednesday.
Fighting back more tears, César paused, took a deep breath, and said: “I hope this is not insulting but this is revolting.” He said: “He had loads of energy and loads of plans.
“He would light up a room, and even now, after this tragic death that no one can cope with, he will light up a room.
“Everyone tells us that we have a shining star looking at us,” he said.
“We do have a shining star looking at us — not small, big. And we will have it the darkest night and every day.” He ended by saying, "goodbye my baby giant, André , see you soon".
Earlier, his grandfather Victor said André was now in “a little house in Heaven”.
He opened the Requiem Mass for André this morning with a eulogy for the little boy, remembered at the service as a child who loved life and had a “warm little heart”.
Translated from Portuguese into English for the congregation, he said the news he had been in an accident last Saturday had hit him “like an atomic bomb”.
“I couldn't believe my ears,” he said. “My cheeks were flooded with tears.” He said the little boy’s “happiness, tenderness, attitude, magnitude, magic, fantasy, fun, and courtesy” was “all good fortune for us”.
He also said his “dancing, singing, acting” and though still a child, his “wit, meticulousness, and sensitivity” were above his tender age.
“Even though your life was brief, you lived it without any grief,” he said.
“Your short passage was not in vain.
“In our hearts, you will remain with great emotion and commotion, your legacy will forever be remembered.
“Even against our will. Your presence will stand still.” He remembered being asked to build the little boy and his brother a tree house.
Victor said: “I didn't get to do your desire. But God in his infinite mercy, did not forget it.
“He found you a little house in heaven. Up there you can watch over us then.” André, whose full name was André Castro Ladeiro, died on August 16 in Temple Street Hospital in Dublin.
He had been cycling with a parent when he was struck by a car on the Cork road leading into the town at the Ballinrea roundabout at around 9.20am last Saturday.
André suffered severe head and upper body injuries and was first rushed by ambulance to Cork University Hospital before later being transferred by ambulance, under Garda escort, to Temple St, where he was placed in an induced coma.
He is survived by his parents and his brother Tomás.
André had been a second-class pupil at Owenabue Educate Together NS since the school first opened in September 2020 and had been preparing to return to school.
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