Girl (14) killed in road incident eight months after her mother died was ‘light of our lives’, funeral hears

The family of a young girl killed in a road traffic incident in Limerick last week told her funeral mass on Tuesday, she was “the light of our lives”.

Savannah Calvert, (14), remembered as “a funny, happy girl, who loved life”, was laid to rest in a pink coffin.

Fr Frank O’Connor told mourners at St John’s Cathedral, that a “tragic storm” of grief had swept through the Calvert and Barry families who were still in mourning for Savannah’s mother, Jacqueline Barry, who passed away suffering with cancer, eight months ago.

Savannah, it was heard, had courageously lived with cystic fibrosis, a disease of the respiratory system, which took the lives of her sisters Katie, in 2014, and Sophie, in 2011.

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The sports-mad teenager from Fairview Crescent, Garryowen, died at University Hospital Limerick in the early hours of last Thursday after she was struck by a car in the Treaty City last Wednesday night.

Gardaí have issued an appeal for witnesses to the fatal collision, and asked that people with dashcam or any other camera footage make it available to their ongoing investigating officers.

Savanah’s coffin, transported to the cathedral in a grey framed glass carriage, drawn by four black horses, was chaperoned on the church altar by replica English Premier League and Champions League trophies, both previously won by her beloved Liverpool FC.

In a loving tribute to her younger sister, Diane Calvert, said: “Oh Savannah, where do I begin, love? They really broke the mould when they made you, you were the heart and soul of the family, you had us all under your thumb; how are we ever gonna get along without you?

“When mammy, Sophie and Katie passed away they broke all our hearts in two; but you’ve taken the rest of what is left of our hearts.

“We would understand completely if you died from cystic fibrosis that you fought so hard throughout your short life. But we will never ever accept the fact that you were taken away from us in such a horrific way.

“The baby of our family, we would have done anything for you. You were the light of our lives, and nothing is comforting us right now.”

Diane Calvert said she and her six surviving sisters would “miss” shopping with Savannah for clothes and make-up.

“We’re going to miss the memories of Christmas, your favourite time, sitting around together; the fire lighting, watching movies, especially the Mamma Mia movie which will stay with us forever,” she added.

Ms Calvert thanked their neighbours, friends, local priests, and gardaí for their ongoing support, as well as HSE paramedics and staff at University Hospital Limerick who had valiantly tried to save Savannah’s “precious” life.

“We love and miss you Savannah, and we hope you’re happy in your new home in heaven with mammy, Sophie and Katie. Rest In Peace, and pray for us.”

Mourners applauded and family members left symbols of Savannah’s life beside her coffin including her Liverpool FC jersey, mobile phone, perfume, and her favourite snack – a packet of crisps.

Fr Frank O’Connor, Curate, St John’s parish, spoke of Savannah’s “great loyalty” to her favourite soccer club, “she was always in a rush [at the start of] every season to get the new jersey”.

Addressing family members, Fr O’Connor highlighted the words of the Liverpool soccer anthem, You’ll Never Walk Alone.

“The words of that famous worldwide anthem end in this way ... ‘For your dreams be tossed and blown; walk on, walk on, with hope in your heart; and you’ll never walk alone”.

Fr O’Connor added: “But there is something else you need to remember, Savannah does not walk alone, she now walks in the companionship of her beloved mother Jacqueline, whom she has missed so much; she walks with her sisters Sophie and Katie.”

“Let our prayer be, that all four of them find peace and rest, and love and joy.”

Mourners celebrated Savannah’s short life in T-shirts emblazoned with her image and the words “Forever Sister”.

Survived by her father Dermot, seven sisters and five brothers and grandmother Bonnie Barry, her remains were later laid to rest in Mount St Oliver Cemetery.