The young Derry woman who lost her husband, two sons, her mother and sister in the Donegal pier accident at the weekend is living only for her baby girl rescued from the waters of Lough Swilly, a priest has said.
Fr Paddy O’Kane, a parish priest in Derry city, said Louise McGrotty only wanted to go on with her life because four-month-old Rioghnach-Ann survived.
Her husband Sean, their sons Mark, 11, and Evan, eight, alongside her mother, Ruth Daniels, and 14-year-old sister, Jodie-Lee, drowned when their Audi vehicle slipped off Buncrana pier on Sunday night.
Only Rioghnach-Ann survived after local footballer Davitt Walsh risked his own life diving into the lough to rescue the infant.
The priest, who spoke to her at the family home in Derry, said: “Louise is struggling, as anyone could imagine. The baby is what she is focusing on. She said that is her sole reason for living right now.
“Louise said to me: ‘I have lost everyone, except little Rioghnach-Ann.’ She said: ‘Rioghnach-Ann is my reason to go on.’ There are no words of comfort that will help. It is not a time for pious platitudes. We can only be present with the family and let them know we are and will do whatever it takes to help them.”
Meanwhile, Davitt Walsh said on Tuesday he was “only seconds” from saving another child from the sinking car, one of the boys who died. After getting hold of the baby, Walsh managed to get one hand on to one of the boys.
“The water rushed in and the next thing he (the father) just looked at me and said: ‘Save the baby’, and he went back in to his family and the car just went straight down.
“I still had the young fella’s hand and I just let go of him. His foot must have got caught on something because I nearly had him out,” Walsh said.
All five of the deceased will be buried in Derry on Thursday after a religious service at 2pm.
