Louise James has appeared on the Tommy Tiernan Show, almost 10 years on from the Buncrana Pier tragedy which claimed five of her family members\u2019 lives.<\/p>\n
Louise, who is from Derry, lost her partner Sean McGrotty (49), sons Mark (12) and 8-year-old Evan, her 14-year-old sister Jodie-Lee and mother Ruth Daniels (58), when Mr McGrotty\u2019s car slid on algae and entered the waters of Lough Swilly following a family day out on the 20th of March 2016.<\/p>\n
Her four-month-old baby Rioghnach was the only survivor, rescued by a passer-by, Davitt Walsh, who bravely entered the water to try and help.<\/p>\n
Louise told the story of the moments before the tragedy to Tommy Tiernan, saying she had a gut feeling something wasn\u2019t right as she was travelling home from being on a hen party.<\/p>\n
\u201cI got up on the Sunday and I had phoned Sean and said to him \u2018I just wanna come home.\u2019 I didn\u2019t leave the boys much, they were mine, I\u2019d just had Rioghnach who was four months old.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe said \u2018enjoy being away, you\u2019re coming home tonight. You\u2019ll be fine, the boys will see you when you\u2019re home.’\u201d<\/p>\n
She later spoke to her sister Jodie on the phone as she was waiting for her flight home, moments before tragedy struck when the family were playing in the park, near the pier that would claim their lives.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was about fifteen, twenty minutes later\u2026 I felt like somebody had ripped my heart out of my chest. That\u2019s the only way to describe it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI immediately rang her back and there was nothing, no connection, and I started to panic. (I said) \u2018I know there\u2019s something wrong.’\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI phoned my brother and he asked me if I\u2019d seen anything on social media. He said that there (was) an accident in Buncrana.\u201d<\/p>\n
However with details being few and far between at that time, nothing was known about the car that had entered the pier \u2013 so Louise switched her phone off for the flight.<\/p>\n
When back on the ground, she saw the news on social media that it had been a black SUV that had entered the pier \u2013 the same car that Sean had been driving.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just remember running off that plane, as I was running I switched my phone back on and that\u2019s when my brother phoned me to tell me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe said \u2018are you listening to me?\u2019 and I just said \u2018I know.’\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI (asked) if they were all gone, and he said \u2018Rioghnach\u2019s at the hospital, I don\u2019t know what state she\u2019s in, but they\u2019re all gone.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe went straight in to see Rioghnagh \u2013 and my mum always used to say that \u2018if I die, I\u2019ll show you a sign\u2026\u00a0 I love elephants, so my sign will be an Elephant. If I ever die and you see an elephant, you know that\u2019s me.’\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d gone in and the nurse said \u2018I don\u2019t know if you give Rioghnagh a dummy or not, but I\u2019ve given her (one) because she\u2019s been crying.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd on the front of the dummy was a wee elephant, and I just thought \u2018right, that\u2019s my sign, my mum\u2019s here and she\u2019s okay.’\u201d<\/p>\n
Louise says that the numb feeling that she felt at the end of that tragic day still persists a decade later.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s still here now, it\u2019s still here. You laugh all day, you carry on, you cry all night. You feel guilty for living, you feel guilty for telling jokes, laughing, being involved, going to parties, but then that\u2019s not fair on Rioghnach. I still have to live a life for her.\u201d<\/p>\n
When asked about Tommy about her daughter Rioghnach, who is now ten years old, Louise said that she is her \u201ceverything.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s fantastic, she\u2019s her two brothers mixed into one along with a wee pinch of her. She\u2019s my everything. I exist for her.\u201d<\/p>\n
Louise also detailed their visits to the pier, and tributes Rioghnach has left there.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe went down, she\u2019ll put a Derry City scarf on the gate, and write their names on it, and then she\u2019ll ask if we can go down and check if it\u2019s still there.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe misses the fact that she has two big brothers that aren\u2019t here. She goes; \u2018that\u2019s not fair unfair that they got to know me but I didn\u2019t get to know them,\u2019 but I (tell her), \u2018you do know them, they\u2019re basically you.’\u201d<\/p>\n
The instant impact of the tragedy on Louise\u2019s day-to-day life was also immense.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou go from being in a busy household to being on your own with a four-month-old baby.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe person that you want to talk to is no longer there, the person that you want to give you a hug and tell you everything\u2019s going to be okay is no longer there, you think that could be your partner or your mum \u2013 but when both of them\u2019s gone, you\u2019re left standing going \u2013 \u2018What do I do? Who do I turn to? Who do I talk to?\u2019 \u2013 you\u2019re left talking to a four-month-old baby.\u201d<\/p>\n
As the tenth anniversary of the tragedy approaches in March, a special fundraiser for the RNLI has been set up by Louise in honour of the five family members she lost on that day.<\/p>\n
There will be a 5k walk in Buncrana on Sunday the 22nd of March at 11am, which will start and end at the car park on Buncrana\u2019s shore front, heading to the start of Porthaw Beach and then returning, a distance of approximately 5km. There will be a refreshment break on the return walk at Lough Swilly RNLI Station at Neds Point in Buncrana.<\/p>\n
Tickets are available to buy now at: https:\/\/eventmaster.ie\/event\/62zZhEpT5G<\/a><\/p>\n