by Andrew Carey
A LIMERICK mother has said how she is “going through hell and back” after the death of her 15-year-old daughter whose body was taken from the river Shannon six days after she went missing from home.
Speaking after the inquest into her daughter Chloe’s death heard that the Junior Cert student had toxic levels of alcohol in her system, Shirley Kinsella said that teenagers were not heeding warnings about the dangers of alcohol.
The inquest at Limerick City Coroner’s Court this Wednesday heard that Chloe’s body was recovered from the river Shannon a short distance from her home at Kenyon Avenue in Kileely on October 4 last year.
Shirley, the mother of seven, said her life would never be the same again and renewed her call to young people not to drink alcohol.
“I’m going through hell and back again and young people are still drinking near my house. You’re just wasting your time talking to them.”
“I just hope to God for their own sakes they just look after themselves. I wouldn’t like anyone to got through it. I will never be right after this I can’t believe what happened her.”
She said that her daughter would have turned 16 last week and instead of organising a party, the family met at Chloe’s graveside where they released a number of balloons in her memory.
Chloe’s uncle Matt Franklin said the recent searches for two young students who went missing earlier this month brought it all back for the Kinsella family.
“It is very hard when you hear the helicopter hovering over your house and you know there’s someone else in trouble.”
Coroner John McNamara heard evidence of how Gardaí were notified on October 4 that members of the Limerick Marine Search and Rescue had found Chloe’s body in the water near an area known as Brown’s Quay.
She was subsequently identified by her 24-year-old sister Linsey who last saw her alive at their home on September 28.
Pathologist Dr Vourneen Healy performed a postmortem examination where toxic levels of alcohol were found in the 15-year-old’s blood stream.
Returning an open verdict in accordance with the medical evidence, Mr McNamara said he was aware of the great efforts to find Chloe with more than 200 volunteers taking part in the search.
“I don’t know if she fell in accidentally or intentionally and therefore the suitable and correct outcome is an open verdict in accordance with medical evidence,” he explained.
