I’M SO SORRY THAT I COULDN’T SAVE YOU
Matthew’s dad weeps as he tells mourners of ‘my buddy, my chief... who will be forever six years old’
jeep]. He loved the beat of the music and loved bands like AC/DC and Ram Jam.’
Mr Healy continued: ‘In his so very short six years and nearly nine months on this earth, Matthew made an immense impact. He was a very confident and articulate little man who made friends everywhere he went. If he didn’t know anyone when he got there, they would all know him by his leaving, just like his grandad.’
Mr Healy thanked paramedics who rushed to the scene last Friday for trying so hard to save the life of his son.
‘I would like to thank the guards, first responders, paramedics and medical personnel at University Hospital Waterford who looked after Matthew in the early hours of
Friday morning,’ he said. ‘I appreciate everything you did to try to save my poor little man’s life.’
Mr Healy was among the pallbearers who carried young Matthew in a simple white coffin to his funeral Mass.
Mourners lined the streets as Matthew’s body was brought from the nearby Healy family home. His father James is originally from
Millstreet in north Co. Cork, but is living in Watergrasshill, northeast Cork. Fr Christy Fitzgerald, parish priest, told the hundreds of mourners: ‘We are where nobody wants to be today.
‘Though springtime beckons, and the daffodils are above ground, Matthew’s death leaves us all encircled by pain, sadness and overwhelming grief.’
He continued: ‘We seek light to give us hope, to point us in a better direction, to lift some of the burden that grief brings, and though for some faith may be severely challenged and tested at this time, it is to the Lord we look for that light and hope today.’
Fr Fitzgerald said the family wanted to give thanks for all the lives Matthew touched in his six years on this earth. He added: ‘We gather with a variety of thoughts and emotions, but above all we come together as a community here and from Waterford, and I welcome Fr Liam Power, Waterford, who is concelebrating with us, to pray for Matthew and his parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, extended family, class and team-mates.
‘We are praying that Matthew is at rest in the peace of God’s presence with all our loved ones who have gone before us. We pray for you, James, and all of Matthew’s family, not just today, but for the difficult and sad days ahead, that you, too, will find comfort and hope in God, the source of all life and love.’
Fr Fitzgerald said Matthew was now in the ‘loving embrace’ of God, adding: ‘We are very mindful of Matthew’s classmates from senior infants in Faithlegg National School, his [soccer] team-mates in Park Rangers under-sevens.
‘We journey with you all in faith, in hope and love, and we assure you of our prayers, especially this Lent. May God’s peace touch your broken hearts, may he surround you in his great love and may Matthew rest in his eternal peace.’
Fr Fitzgerald was joined at the Mass by Fr Power of Ballygunner in Co. Waterford.
Matthew lived in Waterford with his mother, Ruth Purcell Healy.
He was found unresponsive in a car at Rathmoylan Cove in Dunmore East last Friday.
Efforts were made by paramedics to revive him but he was pronounced dead in hospital.
The night before the funeral, Ms Purcell Healy appeared in court charged with her son’s murder.
Matthew attended Faithlegg National School in Co. Waterford, where he was in senior infants. Some of the staff of the school were in attendance yesterday as were the youngster’s coaches from
Classmates brought daffodils and gifts
Park Rangers AFC in Cheekpoint, Co. Waterford, where he played for the under-sevens.
Matthew lay in repose at the Healy home in Watergrasshill on Monday and Tuesday evening.
Hundreds of mourners lined up outside the house to offer their condolences to Matthew’s father James, his doting grandfather Tony, his uncles Bill, Dan and John and aunt Marita, as well as his extended family members.
Mourners had been asked to make a donation to the Make-AWish Foundation in lieu of flowers, at www.makeawish.ie.
Following the noon Mass yesterday, the tragic youngster was taken to the Island Crematorium in Ringaskiddy, Co. Cork, where a private ceremony was held.
Meanwhile, vigils were held over the weekend in Waterford in memory of Matthew.
More than 200 people gathered at St Nicholas’s Church in Faithlegg in memory of the tragic youngster on Monday night.
His classmates brought daffodils and gifts to the altar.
Matthew’s 37-year-old mother appeared before a special sitting of Waterford District Court on Tuesday night charged with his murder. Ms Purcell Healy was remanded in custody at Limerick Prison and is expected to appear before the court by video-link next Tuesday, February 20. Judge Kevin Staunton directed that she receive a psychiatric evaluation and any medical attention deemed necessary while she is in custody.