A community is in shock after a teenage boy died from injuries he sustained in a playground incident.
Oisín McGrath, 13, was a pupil at St Michael’s College in Enniskillen,
Co. Fermanagh, and was hurt while playing football during his
lunch break on Monday.
A 17-year-old boy was arrested and later bailed pending further police
inquiries into what happened.
Oisín was taken to hospital following the incident which was reported
to police at about 2.45pm. They detained the 17-year-old who
is in sixth form at the school.
Upon arrival to hospital Oisín was placed on life support which was withdrawn
by doctors last night.
On Wednesday his school released a statement in which they explained
that ‘a group of students were playing at lunchtime when one student
became unwell and we sought medical assistance.’
‘He was taken by ambulance to the South West Acute Hospital for medical
help. We have no further information at this time,’ the school said.
Oisín, a keen Gaelic footballer from the village of Belcoo in Fermanagh on
the North’s western border, was treated in the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast.
St Michael’s is a Catholic boys’ grammar school with 700
pupils. Parish priest Fr Séamus Quinn said Oisín was a very wellgrounded
and well-rounded young teenager.
He said: ‘He was happy and helpful, genuinely helpful, intelligent
young fella. They are a well-loved and well-respected
family, they are solid, salt of the earth people, faith-based people,
Christian people.’
He said the community in Belcoo had been united in prayer
for Oisín, with 500 people attending Catholic Mass on
Wednesday night at St Patrick’s Church in Holywell – a small village
outside Belcoo.
Fr Quinn continued: ‘There is a silence in the village, there was
a silence after Mass last night, naturally people were just
dumbfounded and in shock.’
‘For anybody who has children it is their worst nightmare.’
Oisín’s mother Sharon is secretary in the local Belcoo GAA
club.
It had earlier asked its Twitter followers to keep Oisín ‘in their
thoughts and prayers’.
Fr Quinn told local station Q Radio that Oisín’s family have
decided to donate his organs.
Speaking on Thursday morning before Oisín passed away, Fr
Quinn said: ‘I was talking to Sharon, that’s Oisín’s mother, at
about a quarter past eight this morning and Sharon was telling
me that she had spent the night with Oisín in the little side room
and probably I’m sure maybe his father as well and other
members of the family for all I know.
‘They have decided to donate Oisín’s organs to somebody else
in the hope that he will give life, that his passing will give life to
others, which I think again really hits in the gut, when you hear
that a 13-year-old boy… I mean, wonderful, wonderful for somebody
else but really really tragic, devastating for our family, for
the McGrath family.’
Fr Quinn said Oisín’s mother was very grateful for the amount
of support she has received.
‘All the prayers and the calls and everything like that and she
wanted to thank everybody for that,’ he said.
Fr Quinn had been at the victim’s bedside. He said: ‘People
were shocked when they heard that there were no signs of life
and the support would be gradually removed.’
By Neil Michael and Kevin Keane
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