65th birthday tribute to care worker who died in f loods
THE family of a Filipino care worker – who died in terrifying floods in Dublin seven years ago – have marked what would have been her 65th birthday in a poignant ceremony in the Philippines.
Cecilia De Jesus died when water rushed into her basement flat during the devastating floods on October 24, 2011.
The care worker drowned in her basement home at Parnell Road in Crumlin following flash floods. Gardaí believe she was asleep when water burst in, and within minutes her flat was submerged.
By the time she awoke, the water and debris had risen too high for her to escape and she cried out desperately to be saved.
Neighbours and emergency workers did all they could, with one neighbour injuring his arm breaking a window to get in, but it was too late.
Mrs De Jesus, who had become an Irish citizen just months before her death, was later buried near Manila in her native Philippines.
Sources describe the circumstances of her death as ‘the stuff of nightmares’ as the water level slowly rose in the basement flat as she desperately tried to escape.
Speaking to the Irish Daily Mail from the Philippines, Mrs De Jesus’s 26-year-old son, Michael Kevin, said the family held a celebration to mark her milestone birthday in December.
‘On her 65th birthday we uttered prayers for her and had quite a celebration together with my mom’s siblings,’ he told the Mail.
‘My dad and I are doing great and thanking Lord God for keeping us safe. We always visit my mom and cherish memories with her when she was still with us.’
Michael Kevin followed his mother into nursing in the aftermath of her death.
He told the Mail he believes his mother would be proud of him and that he plans to return to Ireland soon to visit.
‘If she was still with us, we probably would be living together in Ireland and probably I would be the one working for us,’ he said.
‘I know she’s proud of me being a fully fledged nurse, like what she was dreaming of for me. She was the best.’
Michael Kevin had previously spoken about how he wished he could have been there to save his mother.
Speaking shortly after her death, he said: ‘I wish I was there to help my mum as she screamed out loud. I wouldn’t have lost her.’
In 2015, the husband and son of Mrs De Jesus received €180,000 following legal action.
Her husband, Angelito, and Michael Kevin brought legal action against her landlord, Andrew Donohoe, of Belgrave Road, Rathmines, Dublin.
The case was settled before it reached court. The Mail understands that the family received €180,000.
Following the tragedy, the property where Mrs De Jesus died was issued with a closure notice.
Michael Kevin previously spoke to the Mail about his devastation at his mother’s death.
Mrs De Jesus, who became an Irish citizen just months before her death, had been living here since 2001. She worked in Our Lady’s Hospice, Harold’s Cross, Dublin.
An inquest into the tragedy in 2012 recorded a verdict of death by misadventure.
‘I wish I’d been there to help her’