WHY WAS MY MOTHER NOT WARNED?
The daughter of American Janet Price who died at one of our busiest tourist spots – the Gap of Dunloe – says her mother would still be alive if anyone had told her of the dangers
THE daughter of an American tourist who died on Kerry’s Gap of Dunloe last year has raised questions as to why her mother was not told how dangerous the route was.
Jennifer Price and her sister Erica have warned that their mother would likely have never embarked on the ill-fated bike ride if she had been warned of the dangerous descent.
A verdict of ‘accidental death’ was returned at the inquest of Janet Price, 69, at Kerry’s Coroner’s court which took place in Killarney yesterday.
Ms Price’s daughters broke down in tears as the verdict was delivered by the jury.
Coroner Aisling Quilter and the inquest jury issued a recommendation that adequate warning signs be erected at the Kerry beauty spot to alert all road users to the steep descent and sharp bends. The sharp bend where Mrs Price came off her bike and skidded underneath a 4x4 and trailer carrying lambs involved a sharp 140 degree bend – but there was no warning.
Speaking to the Mail, Jennifer said: ‘I think the signage could be greatly improved on the route. You can clearly see the bends on that route. I would urge safety talks be held for tourists who are not familiar with that area before they go walking and taking out bikes.’
JENNIFER Price scrolls through pictures saved on her phone showing memories of a much-loved mother and grandmother who loved to paint and to experience life. Her mother Janet Price, 69, died tragically in a biking accident on the Gap of Dunloe in Co. Kerry in May last year. Jennifer, 45, who is her eldest daughter, and Erica, her younger, travelled to Ireland this week to attend their mother’s inquest, which took place in Killarney yesterday.
Speaking exclusively to the Irish Daily Mail, Jennifer, who lives in Seattle, recalls the last conversation she had with her mother, the day before she set off for the trip of a lifetime to Ireland.
‘It was Mother’s Day, May 14, 2017, I called her to tell her that I would see her when she got back from her trip. She and Don [her husband] loved to travel, they were very much looking forward to their trip to Ireland. From what I remember we had out usual girlfriend chit-chat and we said goodbye,’ Jennifer said.
However, tragedy struck on May 30 after Janet and Don and a friend rented bikes to cycle around the Gap of Dunloe. Janet was involved in an accident when she came off her bike and skidded underneath a 4x4 and trailer carrying lambs at a sharp bend without warning signs. She died at the scene.
Wiping away tears, Jennifer recalls that morning when she saw her stepfather’s number flashed up on her mobile phone.
‘I was sitting at home on the other line to my financial controller as I was in the middle of changing jobs and I saw Don’s number flash up,’ she says. ‘I knew something was wrong. “Why isn’t Mom calling me?” I remember thinking.
‘I answered the call and I asked Don was everything okay. There was a silence that gave me goosebumps. I remember the words “accident” and “dead” from the phone call.
‘I remember saying: “You’re not kidding, this can’t be for real.” It was the first call that Don made and he sounded just so lost and so far away. I fell to the floor screaming and crying. Your world just goes out from under you when you get a call to say your Mom is dead.
‘I didn’t want to believe it and my heart hurt, but within an hour fightor-flight mode had kicked in and I knew I had to get to Ireland. I needed to be there for Don and for my Mom and to bring her home. Within two hours of receiving the phone call that my mother was dead, I was on the way to the airport to catch a flight to Ireland.’
Jennifer says the outpouring of love and support for her family from the people in Kerry and across Ireland was a tremendous comfort to their family at a time of great sadness.
‘The people of Ireland showed great love and support. The local garda Brendan O’Donovan was amazing and he even picked me up in Shannon Airport when I arrived into Ireland this week.
‘It’s been a year and two months since Mom left us, but there has been a lot of bureaucratic tape to get through. We couldn’t get any property or court documents sorted out until we got a final death certificate. Stuff like this is really difficult for families to deal with. It adds to the pain of losing a loved one.’
Janet grew up in Detroit, Michigan, where she studied maths at university before taking up a state job in
‘The Irish people showed great love and support’
Wisconsin. She had been in a relationship with Jennifer’s stepfather Don for over 30 years, and the pair married in 2005.
The couple had been enjoying their retirement travelling the world, the latest leg of which was the trip to Ireland.
‘She loved art and once she had fully retired at the age of 60, it became one of her great passions in life. If my Mom saw a blank wall then she would just have to paint something to hang on that blank wall.
‘She loved life and her family and I miss her every single day I wake up. She was more than just my Mom, she was my best friend,’ Jennifer told the Mail.
Jennifer described her mother as a ‘doting grandmother’ who lived very near her daughter’s home.
Her death has left a huge void in the lives of her grandsons, Ethan Barnes, 15; Coleman Barnes, 13; Benjamin Barnes, ten, and their cousin Dylan Claussen, nine, who travelled to Ireland this week with Janet’s younger daughter Erica.
‘My Mom was a huge help to me with the kids,’ recalls Jennifer. ‘When she retired she used to watch the kids one day a week, they travelled a lot with my Mom and Don, and just not having her around anymore is really difficult.
‘The kids miss her and so do I, she was my best friend. I still remember the last conversation that we had on Mother’s Day.’
Following the death of Mrs Price, Kerry County Council said it would consider putting new barriers and traffic calming measures in place in what is one of the busiest tourist sites in the country. However, this has not yet been done.
‘I think the signage could be greatly improved on the route. Having been up to the site, you can clearly see the bends on that route. I would also urge safety talks to be held for tourists who are not familiar with that area before they go walking and taking out bikes,’ says Jennifer.
‘What my Mom needed was for someone to explain the dangers but nobody did. She and Don were just given the bikes and off they went. They had no idea that heavyduty vehicles operated on the route.
‘It’s difficult to come back here, when I got on the plane to come here, I broke down as the last time I came was to bring her body home to the US. I’m not at peace with what happened, but I have made my peace with the fact that she died in a very beautiful part of the world. She loved colour.’
In recent months the family, like many families, had the heartbreaking task of putting her home she shared with her husband on the market and packing up the elements of her life.
‘Don has moved into a new home closer to us,’ explains Jennifer. ‘When we were packing up the house they shared I found all these letters that I sent my Mom from camp over the years, she really kept everything.
‘She was a great mother, wife and grandmother and we will never be able to truly get over the devastation that her death caused but we have to make peace with it.
‘I have some of her artwork in my house now and I love looking up at it. It reminds me of the beautiful and caring person she was.’
Looking out the window of the hotel as a horse and cart passes by Jennifer sits up in her chair.
‘Ireland brings back a lot of pain for us but coming here this week is part of the healing process. Mom loved to experience new things and travel, and she left us here in Ireland. The Irish people were so kind to my family and we want to thank them for that.
‘We can’t bring her back, but we hope that no other family has to experience the heartbreak that our family has experienced from an accident on the Gap of Dunloe.’
Jennifer adds: ‘We can’t take our pain away but hopefully by raising awareness we will be able to prevent another family going through this. It’s been the toughest year for me personally and I really wish my Mom and best friend was still here.
‘I just want one last hug and to tell her how much she was loved. She will be forever in our hearts.’
‘There should be safety talks for tourists who don’t know the area’