A WOMAN whose family were killed in a drowning tragedy told mourners yesterday her 14-year-old son Tomás and six-year-old daughter Amelia were holding each when divers recovered their bodies.
In a highly emotional address Geraldine Mullan told mourners she initially ignored rescuers attempts to help her out her husband’s upturned car because she wanted to go into the sea to be with her family.
Mrs Mullan’s husband, John (49) and two children died when their car skidded off the main Derry to Moville road and plunged into Lough Foyle last Thursday night. The family were returning home to Moville from a day out in Derry as an end of summer treat for the children.
Mrs Mullan and her children were able to get out of the car. However, while their mother managed to scramble onto the upturned vehicle, the children were swept away by the strong current.
People standing outside the Church of St Pius X in Moville broke down in tears as Mrs Mullan said a diver revealed the children were still holding onto each other when he found their bodies on Thursday night.
“It’s true what they say; in a second your life changes completely and on 21st August 2020, at half nine, we were supposed to be coming home and planning our next few days together. My life was irrevocably changed for the worst," she said.
“We landed in the water, upside down, in about 12 ft of water with the waves crashing. My husband tried everything he could to get out but the injuries he sustained unfortunately hampered him and he couldn’t."
Mrs Mullan said her son had been baby-sitting his sister during lockdown as both she and her husband worked.
“He was the best big brother to the end because when they found them, Amelia was in Tomás’s arms just as you can see in the family photos down there. For that Tomás, I thank you for minding my dearest Amelia up to the end.”
Mrs Mullan thanked individual members of the rescue services along with Moville man, Conor McDaid who was driving past and was the first person to raise the alarm.
“I honestly don’t know how long I was in the water; I think it was probably the best part of an hour but I had probably given up hope at that stage. I had screamed and roared and called for my three kids – sorry John was not a kid but he was a kid at heart. But I called out your names until I knew you, all three, had already gone.
“The waves were hitting me and pounding me and all of a sudden a light and it was Conor. As my dad said, Conor was my guardian angel that night.”
She singled out Irish Coastguard officer, Kevin Barr.
“Kevin I am sorry. You had the hard job of getting down in the water and on a couple of occasions I asked you to let me go. I knew I had lost the most important people in my life and I just wanted to be with them,” Mrs Mullan said.
Every second, minute, hour and day that she would be without her husband and children, would be a second too long, Mrs Mullan said.
“I have to say a special word to the paramedics, James and David, who tended to me that night in the ambulance for my injuries. I wouldn’t let them [allow me] to go until they had found my beloved family. Thanks for being patient with me.”
Mrs Mullan said that, with her children, she had collected 50 gifts for her husband's fiftieth birthday on September 7. She said she would now sing happy birthday at their grave.
"I could talk from here til Sunday about you and that still wouldn't be enough, sweetheart," she said.
