Today would have been the start of Kiea’s whole life...
Family mark the 18th birthday of daughter
THE family of tragic Debs crash victim Kiea Mccann have marked her 18th birthday by placing a headstone on her grave.
Largy College student Kiea, 17, died alongside her friend Dlava Mohamed, 16, in a horror car smash that occurred in Legnakelly near Clones, Co Monaghan, on July 31, 2023.
Anthony Mcginn, 60, has since been charged with dangerous driving causing death.
A second man, who is in his 40s, is set to appear in court in the summer charged in connection with the incident.
Kiea’s devastated parents Frankie and Teresa Mccann and Dlava’s sister Avin, who was critically injured in the crash, attended her grave yesterday, marking what would have been her 18th birthday.
Devastated Avin, 18, who miraculously survived the crash, was seen in tears as friends and family paid tribute to Kiea – as her headstone was installed in the cemetery in Clones.
Speaking to this paper, Kiea’s heartbroken father Frankie said it was a sad day, but a celebration of his daughter’s short life.
He said: “It’s a very, very hard day. We’re all meeting up with family and friends.
“There’s a few of us going up on bikes. She was into the bikes.”
He added: “It would have been the start of her whole life.”
Frankie told how his daughter would have been spoiled on a day like today – but instead her family were left grieving over her unimaginable loss.
PRESENT
He said: “She would have been spoiled rotten today and got a major present.
“Her present is a headstone. That’s basically the worst part of it. But that’s the reality and the hard part of it.”
Speaking to us previously Frankie told how he pulled his own daughter out of the car and performed CPR on her in a desperate bid to save her life.
He told us: “I jumped the fence to get into the girls.
“I got into the car and tried to save Kiea but she was gone.
“So there was a nurse there with me who helped me. So I left Kiea to see who was alive.
“Dlava was just not moving so I went to her sister Avin because I knew she was worse.
He added: “I tried to save them. But there was no saving them.
“I did CPR. I’m trained in first aid and that. But there was nothing.
“It’s a sight no one wants to see, especially parents.”
Kiea’s mother Teresa was also at the scene and told us how once she saw the white BMW she knew her daughter was gone.
Frankie added: “When I looked in I knew. I was there and I stayed.
“I just held Kiea in my arms. And then I laid beside them. “I couldn’t leave the girls. I’d worked on Kiea and then lay beside her and her mother.”
Paying tribute to their daughter Frankie told of her “infectious” personality and how many people in Clones knew of her and her beautiful smile.
He said: “She was so full of life and Dlava was the same. You’d never see one without the other.
“Kiea had plans to be a social worker and she was accepted into college and wanted to be in childcare working with children who are disadvantaged and stuff. She never got that chance.”
Recalling the day of the tragedy, Frankie said he remembers every minute his daughter and Dlava spent in his home in Clones dressed in their Debs dresses – minutes before they got into a car and left.
He said: “It was so exciting for them.
“She came back and was sitting in that chair. I went over to her and said you’re the most beautiful person in the world.
“I never seen anyone as beautiful in the world in my whole life as you.
“And just like that she was gone, she went out and I said where did they go and her mother said they ran to the car the two of them.
“I said to them don’t worry girls I love you.”
I got into the car and tried to save Kiea but she was gone
FRANKIE MCCANN RECALLING THE DAY OF THE FATAL CRASH