Devoted mother-of-six killed in crash

SUSAN MAHER’S wish was that her four year-old son, Bobby, might join her husband, Michael, and their five other children for carols at their home this Christmas Eve.

But today, the distraught family is instead selecting hymns for Susan’s funeral Mass. Susan, 41, lost control of the family car late on Monday night and died in the subsequent crash. Miraculously, little Bobby, survived.

They were returning, as they did nightly, from Dublin to Kilkenny. Susan and Bobby had endured the five-hour round trip, five days a week, for more than a year, so that Bobby could get speech therapy in Dublin. They couldn’t get the help they needed at home in Kilkenny and were forced to get up at 4.30am every week day. They wouldn’t get back home until after 9pm. For the mother-of-six, and Bobby, it was a gruelling schedule.

While in Dublin she learned sign language at a course in Trinity College so she could communicate with her son. It was tough on them, on Susan’s husband, Michael, and their five other children, Casey, Lucey, Annie, Suzy and Jeffrey.

Susan and Bobby missed little Suzy’s third birthday on Monday. Tragically, the tot will now remember it as the day her proud mother died. Suzy is the youngest of the children, the oldest being 13.

After spending the day in a special school for speech and language therapy, Susan and Bobby made their way home to Kilkenny, but towards the end of the long journey, Susan lost control of their Nissan people carrier and crashed.

They were about to collect her husband, Michael, who worked as a sandblaster and handyman locally, when tragedy struck.

The vehicle tumbled down a steep embankment on the main Kilkenny to Clonmel road, just minutes from their home. The car turned over in a river, trapping Susan inside. Gardaí believe she died instantly. Bobby managed to free himself from his seat belt, and stood inside the upturned car for 20 minutes before the rescue services arrived and fireman, Joe O’Brien, saved him.

Suffering from hypothermia, he was rushed to St Luke’s Hospital, Kilkenny.

He was kept overnight and was released into the care of his father, Michael and his extended family yesterday morning.