'My heart is broken': Cork woman grieves after the sudden death of a third son

Ross Kavanagh died in December 2016 when he was just 31, Leon Kavanagh was also 31 when he died in March 2021, and Damien Kavanagh died on Wednesday, aged 36

Damien Kavanagh was found dead in his apartment in Cardiff, Wales, on Wednesday.

A devastated mother has spoken of her unbearable grief following the sudden death of a third son.

Heartbroken Christine Kavanagh, from Gurranabraher in Cork, who has buried two sons since 2016, wept on Thursday and asked: ‘Why me?” as she confirmed the sudden death of a third son, Damien.

“I don’t think I can take any more. My heart is broken, our world has ended, our hearts are crushed,” she said.

Damien was found dead in his apartment in Cardiff, Wales, on Wednesday. He was 36. An investigation into his death is ongoing.

He is predeceased by his brother, Ross, who died in December 2016 when he was just 31, and by another brother, Leon, who was also 31 when he died in March 2021.

Ross, a father of two, died just three weeks after being diagnosed with epilepsy. The family asked at the time that donations, if desired, be made to Epilepsy Ireland.

Leon had struggled with addiction and was known to various homeless services. He had been sleeping rough on St Patrick’s St around the time of his death.

Tragically, he died just days after saving the life of another homeless man who had taken an overdose of tablets. The family asked at the time of his death that donations, if desired, be made to Cork Penny Dinners.

Ms Kavanagh, who is now making funeral arrangements for Damien, wept as she told her story to Neil Prendeville on Cork’s RedFM on Thursday.

She said Damien had struggled with addiction but had moved to Wales in 2019 in search of a fresh start, where he was living with her step-daughter, and working on various jobs, on foxers, and was doing well.

“He got clean, he got a beautiful apartment, he had everything going for him,” she said.

She spoke to him the week before Christmas when he told her she was “the strongest woman”, he spoke to one of his teenage children on New Year’s Day, and she said she was so shocked when she heard the news this week that he had died suddenly.

“I just want to get him home,” she said.

Repatriation

The radio show’s production team contacted the Kevin Bell Repatriation Trust which helps bereaved families with the financial costs associated with the repatriation of the bodies of loved ones who have died abroad, and they are now working on the case.

Charity trustee, Colin Bell, the Newry man who set up the charity in 2013 following the suspected hit-and-run death of his son, Kevin, in New York, said once they get a death certificate, they will arrange for their undertaker to apply for the required documents from the Welsh authorities and then arrange for the transport of Damien's remains back to an undertaker in Cork.

The trust has repatriated some 2,035 remains over the last 12 years, with some 297 bodies repatriated in 2024 alone.

Mr Bell said: “It’s not us, it’s the Irish people. We survive on donations and fundraisers. It’s Irish people who are bringing these people home, through their generosity.”