Northern Ireland

The incomprehensible loss of 'perfect gentleman' Noah Donohoe

Noah Donohoe with his mother Fiona
Noah Donohoe with his mother Fiona Noah Donohoe with his mother Fiona

You don't need to be a parent to empathise with Fiona Donohoe's pain, but like every mother in the land my heart is sore for her as she struggles with the enormity of her loss.

Pictures of the doting mother with her only child, her precious boy, radiate with love and happiness. Both mother and son could only smile in each other's presence.

The woman who appeared, supported by her sisters, at a police appeal last week had a very different face, one etched with pain, her every breath a struggle.

The panic of a missing child, knowing this is not in his character and waiting powerless for information, only for it to be the most shattering, life-changing, dreadful news.

READ MORE: Noah Donohoe: Family say he and mum Fiona 'were each other's world'Opens in new window ]

Noah, her pride and joy, an aspiring musician, an enthusiastic cook, a boy with a thirst for knowledge well beyond his years, a talented basketball player, gone and in a way that is just incomprehensible.

The sequence of events revealed by police so far has only raised more questions than answers, and will require further scrutiny in the coming weeks.

But right now this is about a family who have lost a much-treasured child, a boy with so much potential and whose presence brought joy to every room he entered.

Under a picture of Noah, standing in his grammar school uniform, Fiona proudly posted "First class student" in reply to a friend who commented on the picture, saying "very blessed with this little gent".

Noah Donohoe with his mum Fiona
Noah Donohoe with his mum Fiona Noah Donohoe with his mum Fiona

And what a little gent he was, a protective arm around his mum as they posed for a picture, the two of them with the same smile.

"Watch this space," posted Fiona - she had high hopes and big plans for her boy, her one and only.

The statement released by his school, St Malachy's, also gives a real sense of who Noah was as a person.

"The whole college family mourns the tragic loss of our young Malachian," it said.

As a talented young cellist, "Noah was able to enhance the lives of his fellow performers and also many an audience".

And he was "the perfect gentleman who was also able to show a genuine competitive spirit" on the basketball court.

A perfect gentleman - what mother wouldn't want to hear those three words about their son?

Noah Donohoe was a talented musician
Noah Donohoe was a talented musician Noah Donohoe was a talented musician

Grief is love with nowhere to go, and Fiona's love for her child, packed into every day of his 14 years on this earth, is now left with nowhere to go.

Her heart must be shattered into a million pieces. There are not enough words to say how sorry I am - how sorry we all are for her loss.

May the pride that she feels at raising a perfect gentleman help her through the unimaginable time ahead.