The parting words of a grieving mother to her only child who died after a tragic fishing accident made for heartbreaking scenes at his funeral mass in Limerick today.
Nine-year-old Aaron O’Flaherty from Castletroy View, Co Limerick fell into into the sea earlier this month while fishing with his father Pat Hayes at Ballyvaughan in Co Clare.
Despite desperate attempts by his father to rescue his son, Aaron was found unconscious approximately 500m off shore.
He was airlifted to University Hospital Galway but transferred to Temple Street Hospital in Dublin where he died last Thursday.
Over 1,000 people packed Our Lady Help of Christians Church in Milford today where mourners bid a tearful farewell to the third class pupil from the adjoining Milford National School.
Teachers, classmates, friends and work colleagues joined Aaron’s parents, grandparents and his great grandmother for the Mass of the Angels, where tributes were paid to a boy with an “irrepressible smile” who touched many lives.
In a letter read out on behalf of Aaraon's mother Cecila O'Flaherty, civil defence officer with Limerick City and County Council, the grieving mother described her only child as "her whole world".
Mourners were told how the mother and son enjoyed adventures and holidays to Australia, Lanzarote and London.
A souvenir from a trip to Legoland after the nine-year-old’s First Communion last year was among the symbols representing his short life placed beside the small white coffin.
At the beginning of the Mass of the Angels, children from Milford National school lit nine candles as a poignant reminder of Aaron’s short time on earth.
“From the moment you were born even though you were two weeks late you made it very easy to be a mum. I was always so proud of you. Nine years and one month doesn’t sound like a lot but we made them jam packed and we crammed a lot in,” the grieving mother wrote.
Like many boys his age, Arron loved sport and was a member of Claughaun GAA Club, Seal Swimming Club and Limerick Lakers Basketball Club.
“There was always a ball of some shape around you but your favourite was basketball. Our last game of ‘One on One’ and you finally beat me and you refused to give me a rematch to win back my title. So you are now forever the champion and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
“You are such a special boy Arry. You left a mark on every person you met. I mentioned to one of the doctors during the week that if you went into an empty room you would come out with a present.... A person close to me said that you only had to meet Aaron once to be hooked. You are the sun you are the stars you are my whole world . Love you Arrie, Mum.”
Children from Milford School Band provided the music for today’s Mass .
There was a particularly poignant moment when they sang The Beatles’ classic hit I’ll get by with a little from my friends.
Aaron’s third class teacher Aaron Gallagher spoke of a warm, kind-hearted child who was always immaculately turned out “from his neat shiny hair to his flawless skin”.
“Aaron was no angel. He sometimes caught the attention of his teachers for the wrong reasons. But even after a stern talking to, five minutes later I would look down and he would be beaming back up at me with that warm smile. He was irrepressible — what an amazing quality that was.”
“The most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or touched they must be felt with the heart and that is where Aaron is and will be for all of us in our hearts.”
In his homily, Milford parish priest Reverand Robert Swinburne said Aaron was a typical boy, “energetic, funny, full of life, and at the same time, a messer” who once joked about blowing up the University of Limerick.
“But, which of us boys when we were at school, and perhaps girls, I don’t know, when we attended school we wanted to blow up our school so we could get time off. But, Aaron just didn’t go for Milford — it’s a sign that he liked it — and he didn’t go for second level, he went for ther top, third level.”
Rev Swinburne said Aaron is now an angel in heaven who will never be forgotten by his family and many friends who said he “shone like a star”.
Aaron was buried in Castlemungret Cemetery.