Irish Daily Mirror

JOSH DIED IN MY ARMS

Friend who tried to save stabbed teenager relives his last moments

- BY JOHN HAND Chief Reporter DUBLIN

I still don’t believe he’s gone. He was so innocent

A FRIEND of tragic Josh Dunne’s told how she desperatel­y tried to save the 16-year-old and said: “He died in my arms.”

Paris Thompson gave the young soccer player CPR and mouth-to-mouth after calling an ambulance.

And she recalled how she thought he was “coming back” as the boy took one big breath before he died.

Josh, from Ballymun, Dublin was fatally injured in a stabbing incident in East Wall on Dublin city’s northside on January 26 last year.

For his first anniversar­y of his passing last month, Paris created a memorial at the scene of his death, with a plaque and a mural of the youngster.

And speaking from there this week, she recalled how she did everything she could to help Josh in his final moments.

Paris, 17, told the Irish Mirror: “The ambulance took a couple of minutes but it felt like hours. I just did what I could.

“Everyone was just crying but I hadn’t even got tears. I was in shock. My body

PARIS THOMPSON was shaken, it was my way of reacting. Everyone was just running around, going crazy so I knew someone had to take responsibi­lity that night.

“I had to do what I could so I was on the phone and the woman was kind of directing me through what to do until the ambulance came.

“He took one big breath, I thought he was coming back to us then because me and one of the boys were both doing CPR, mouth to mouth.

“He died in my arms. I think of it every day. It constantly plays over in my head.”

Paris, from East Wall, and pals who were with Josh that night were in shock but realised how serious it was when emergency services arrived.

She said: “But even still, I couldn’t believe it. There was something in my head telling me it’s not true. I couldn’t believe he was gone.

“It took months for me to realise. Some days I believe I still just haven’t seen him. I just don’t believe he’s actually gone because he was so young and innocent.”

Josh had a bright football future playing for Bohemians and St Kevin’s football clubs while he also had a trial with Dundee United.

But Paris remembers him as “the funniest person ever”. On the day he died, she had done an Instagram fashion challenge and she remembers Josh teasing her.

She said: “We always had a laugh with you.

That day my hair was all curly so he was saying I was trying to have an afro like him. He had the biggest heart. He was really genuinely one of the best people.”

Paris created and funded the memorial for Josh at the scene of his death on East Road.

Initially she and many of his friends, as well as Josh’s mum Diane, found it tough to return there since the incident. But now she goes there every day to remember him.

Paris said: “It was just such a dull road and it was just miserable. I never liked to walk up here after Josh died.

“So I just decided during the summer I wanted to make something nice but I didn’t have it in me to do it yet. I just wasn’t strong enough.

“I knew his anniversar­y was coming up in January and I decided to go get it all done and now like I come up here every day and it feels like a better place.

“I feel like he’s around me when I’m here too.”

A 35-year-old man, who a court heard was not known to Josh, is set to go on trial later this year charged with his murder.

 ?? ?? POIGNANT Paris and Josh’s mum Diane at memorial
NEVER FORGET Friend Paris Thompson & Josh’s photo
POIGNANT Paris and Josh’s mum Diane at memorial NEVER FORGET Friend Paris Thompson & Josh’s photo
 ?? Josh Dunne ?? MUCH LOVED
Josh Dunne MUCH LOVED

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