THE daughter of a woman who died yesterday two days after she was thrown through a windscreen in a collision with a stolen car, spoke of the "beautiful life" which had been destroyed.
Mrs Joyce Davies returned from her home in Liverpool to be with her mother during her final moments at Dublin's Beaumont Hospital. Mrs Terry McGrath (71), had not regained consciousness since the accident in Raheny on Tuesday afternoon, in which she suffered massive injuries to the head and body.
"She was a lovely, lovely woman and for her life to end like this is beyond comprehension. I feel sorry for those who have destroyed such a beautiful life and I have great sympathy for the parents of those children. I know I would find it very hard to cope with if my children did something like this."
The mother of one of the four youths arrested after the crash has been among the callers to the McGrath home, she said. "We weren't in at the time, but a neighbour told us she called, in a very shocked state. It must have taken great courage to do that."
She asked for prayers for her father Joe (73), who survived the collision. "He's trying to be brave, but he was completely devoted to her and he's suffering doubly because he's very badly bruised and shaken himself."
The couple were returning home from a visit to Dollymount strand on Tuesday afternoon, when the stolen car - travelling at 80 m.p.h. - hit their Opel Corsa on the driver's side. Mrs McGrath was sitting in the back of the car "probably holding the dog" and was thrown through the rear windscreen.
Gardai who had been following the car detained three youths at the scene, while a fourth who escaped across fields was arrested later. Mr McGrath had to be cut from the driver's seat but was found to have no broken bones.
"If you saw the horrific injuries my mother had, you wouldn't think they'd been in the same car, Mrs Davies said.
None of the elderly couple's seven children live at home, although three live in Dublin. Two, have travelled home from England and one from Spain. The last family member is expected from Sydney today.
"I was very privileged to be there with my mother when she died," said Mrs Davies, who stressed the family was not interested in revenge of any kind against the perpetrators. "If joyriders or potential joyriders see in this the pain their actions can cause, that'll be good enough for us."
