I have an 11 year old son, (as well as another 10 year old and a 6 year old daughter). I cannot comprehend waving off my son as he leaves to catch the bus in the morning and then finding out that he had been murdered/killed or just the simple fact he wouldn’t be coming home.
God only knows what the family of Joe must be going through. It made me sick to my stomach just to think of something like that happening to any of my children.
The statement that the family issued has me welled up the moment I read it. I even went upstairs to check they were asleep and tell them I love them, because it’s at times like this when you realise how precious they are and how special kids can be.
My heart goes out to Joe’s family and friends. I can never claim to know an ounce of how they feel right now, but I know how I would feel.
May little Joe rest in peace.
Everybody wants us to make a statement or give a few comments on how much Joe meant to us and what a loss he will be.
None of you have enough time to hear how much he meant to us. How do you condense 11 years of fun and love and heartache, worries and accomplishments etc etc etc into a few words?
Without exaggeration I can say that Joe was one of those special people that if you ever met him and spent even five minutes talking to him, he would leave an impression on you that you would remember and usually with fondness.
We were spoilt, we had him every day.
He had a few problems, being a child born with cystic fibrosis, but all those who knew him know that he refused to be restricted by that.
He got on with life and made minimum fuss about his condition.
He loved all the things every other little boy loves, like football, computer games, Bart Simpson etc but he was also amazing when it came to problems of any sort.
You always came away from him thinking to yourself ‘how come I couldn’t think of that?’
You really needed to know him to appreciate his potential and now some of you will never know him.
We used to say how good he was but like all little lads he was no angel – somebody just changed all that for us. Now we’re sure he truly is a little angel. God bless him and may he rest peacefully now.Joe had a huge circle of family and friends, all of whom are equally devastated and like us they will never ever be quite the same again.
Love from Mum and Dad, sisters Kelly and Danielle and brothers Sean and James.
