A VIGIL will be held tomorrow in memory of 12-year old Wiktor Chojecki who died in a head-on road traffic collision in County Limerick yesterday morning.
Wiktor died when a car he was driving collided with an articulated lorry shortly before 2am, just outside the village of Adare.
The boy, whose parents emigrated to Newcastle West from their native Poland a number of years ago, was the sole occupant in the car.
A vigil, “Bright up The Sky for Wiktor Chojecki”, will take place in The Square, Newcastle West, at 3pm tomorrow.
Prayers are also been said for the family at local masses around the parish as well as at services in Limerick City.
The vigil is being organised by Newcastle West resident and Polish native, Dominika Hogan.
“As a member of the Polish Community in Newcastle West it saddens me to say that one of our good friends has lost their son fatally in a car accident,” Ms Hogan wrote on social media.
“To show support to Wiktor’s family and as a mark of respect, I would like to invite everyone who would like to let off a balloon in memory of Wiktor to The Square in Newcastle West @3pm.”
“Bring a balloon or two, let’s bright up the sky for Wiktor,” added Ms Hogan.
Gardai investigating the fatal collision are to examine the boy’s mobile phone, which was found at the scene, to see if it holds any clues as to why he ended up behind the wheel of car in the early hours of Friday.
Gardai are working on the theory that the boy took his mother’s Nissan Qashqai while she and the rest of his family were sleeping.
Pat O’Sullivan, Honorary Consul for the Republic of Poland in Limerick, said he would be attending Sunday’s vigil and that he would offer any assistance he could to the boy’s family.
Mr O’Sullivan said the Ambassador of Poland to Ireland, Anna Sochanska, was in Limerick on Friday on a planned visit, and that she offered her condolences and sympathies to the boy’s family.
Mr O’Sullivan said he had been in contact with the Polish Embassy and that it would offer all and any consular assistance to the boy’s family.
“I will be attending the vigil, I don’t know the family, but there are somewhere between 7,000 and 10,000 Polish people living in the Limerick region and approximately 140,000 nationally,” said Mr O’Sullivan.
“Our duties include looking after certain legal issues and also helping and supporting industry and commerce between Limerick and Clare and Poland, and also dealing with some of the more human and social issues that might arise with our Polish community living here.”
“We do everything from consultancy and directing them in the right way from what agencies to deal with.
“The Polish community are an asset to our community, they have a great work ethic and also provide some of the social fabric to our community in terms of Polish art exhibitions, festivals, and the likes, and they are very much involved and in sporting organisations and sporting clubs.”
Mr O’Sullivan said the boy’s death was “a tragic event and I offer my sympathy and support to the family”.
“We’re not familiar with the background to it or how it occurred, but at the end of the day it is just so tragic and a loss of life at such a young age is so sad for his family.”
