Sister ‘is still grieving Dara’s loss’
PSYCHOLOGIST Niamh Fitzpatrick, whose sister Dara died on the ill-fated Rescue 116 helicopter, has said the grieving process is getting worse.
Dara Fitzpatrick was flying a Sikorsky S-92 Irish Coast Guard helicopter when it came down off the Co. Mayo coast in bad weather on March 14 last year close to Black Rock Island.
Her sister Niamh said: ‘I’m finding 2018 way harder to live and cope with the loss of Dara. Last year I was just numb with my reaction to her death but this year the reality of knowing that she is never coming back is hitting me.’
She said she has learned the concept of ‘closure’ is a myth and the joy of remembering someone must sit with the pain of their loss.
All four crew on board Rescue 116 helicopter died. The bodies of mother-of-one Captain Fitzpatrick and that of co-pilot Captain Mark Duffy were recovered but the remains of winchman Ciarán Smith and winch operator Paul Ormsby remain lost.
Ms Fitzpatrick revealed she is struggling to accept her sister really is gone.
She said: ‘I have to wrap my head around that fact of losing her and get on with my life.
‘It’s not healthy to get stuck in the past as it will drag me and, indeed others, down psychologically.
‘Like many others have to do, I must reconcile one part of my brain with living my life and the other with coming to terms with Dara’s death. It’ll never be OK that she has died, but as a private person and with my psychologist’s hat on, I can’t let my thoughts live in the past, as they will drag me down and put me in a state of depression.’
Ms Fitzpatrick said she hopes her words comfort others who are dealing with the same loss.
She said: ‘This is my current struggle and in some ways may mirror that of others.
‘I stumbled across a saying recently that the word “closure” is a myth and that the joy of memories can co-exist with that of grief, and I truly believe that.’
She added: ‘What I’m trying to do now is take joy from the 45 years I had with Dara and allow those memories live alongside living my life and not feeling bad about it.’