New book and TV series feature accident that claimed life of Limerick teenager
A NEW book offering a detailed account of the human stories behind road traffic accidents in Ireland focuses in one chapter on the tragic death of Bruff teenager Kevin Walsh.
Kevin lost his life in a collision caused by the careless driving of Eddie Halvey.
'Impact' published by The Collins Press and written by TV3's Jenny McCudden features interviews with several grieving family members who have lost loved ones in car accidents over the years.
Amongst them is the Walsh family from Bruff who lost their beloved Kevin when he was killed instantly in a road accident just days after his sixteenth birthday The family's story will also feature on an episode of the TV3 series 'Impact' - produced and directed by Ms McCudden and presented by Gay Byrne - which is scheduled to air on Monday, March 22 at 9pm.
Impact tells the story of the Wlash family's pursuit of justice following the accident, the grief they endured as a result of the untimely death of Kevin and how they have coped since.
Kevin died instantly when a jeep being driven by former Munster and Irish rugby star Eddie Halvey crashed into the back of his family's car on April 1, 2006. Kevin was the back-seat passenger in the car, which was stopped at the time of the crash. Mr Halvey was more than two times over the legal alcohol limit when the crash happened at Coole, near Toomevara, County Tipperary.
Mr Halvey did not receive a prison sentence when he was convicted for drink driving and careless driving in May 2009.
"I feel our justice system failed us; it let us down. I honestly thought that man would go to jail. He killed a child. He was over the limit," the late Kevin's mother Kate Walsh explains in the book.
"We waited three years for justice that never came," she continues, "if he was an ordinary Joe Soap, he would be in prison by now and it would have not taken three years to put him there either... I believe that Eddie Halvey walked because of who he was and because of his status in society. I wanted justice but I got nothing and I lost a beautiful son."
The chapter entitled 'Remembering Kevin' also chronicles the moments leading up to the accident and poignantly describes the last time Kevin returned home, in his mother's words.
"I brought him home on Sunday and kept him until Tuesday morning in our house," Kate explains. "I slept with him on the last night. I put my face against his face in his coffin and I stayed with him all night. We closed the kitchen doors. It was just the two of us, mother and son. Nobody interfered."
Almost 8,000 people have died on Irish roads since 1990 and thousands of lives have been devastated as a result. Through interviews with hundreds of people including injured victims, grieving families, the emergency services, Garda and medical personnel, Ms McCudden gains a moving insight into the human stories of unexpected grief, the shock of injuries and how in a split second peoples lives are devastated forever.
"It was something I came up with myself," said Ms McCudden of how the book came to be.
"Working for TV3, I cover pretty much the western coast and I have seen so many car accidents in the course of my work having been called out to them. I have seen the wreckages of what's left - up close and it's nearly always multiple fatalities particularly on country roads. I just decided that I wanted to raise awareness of road safety," she said.
As Western Correspondent for TV3 News, Ms McCudden had been aware of the Kevin Walsh case and decided to approach the family with the intention of including it in her book.
"I actually approached the family one of the days after the court and spoke to them about the book. It was a very tragic case," said Ms McCudden who spent a day with the Walsh family and met them on other numerous occasions through her work.
According to Ms McCudden who spent between six and eight months working on the book, "it is a real eye opener," for people.
"I would encourage people to buy it especially mothers for their sons or teenage boys or girls, it's a real eye opener for everybody - even for me - it slowed me down," she said.
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Tuesday 22 May 2012
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