The family of a former inter-county hurler has said their “world was ripped apart” when he died in a road crash in Dubai last month.
Former Limerick star Paul Carey was due to return home to his pregnant wife Anna and young son Fionn before he was tragically killed four weeks ago today.
The family had lived in Dubai for a number of years and the accident happened after Anna returned home to prepare for their move back to Patrickswell.
Shock
On Lunchtime Live this afternoon, Paul’s brother Sean, said news of the accident hit the family “like an asteroid.”
“Paul is the second-youngest of ten of us in a big family, you know, six boys and four girls,” he said.
“He was working in Dubai as a teacher and hoping to come back on December 5th to his expecting wife Anna and his five-year-old son Fionn.
“So, our worlds were ripped apart really when we got the phone call there Friday four weeks ago that he was tragically killed in a car accident.
“Anna is due a new baby in February and it is just so sad. It hit us out of the blue, it was like an asteroid.”
"Fog of grief"
Paul had worked in Brunei and Singapore before settling in Dubai and Sean said the weeks since his deaths have “just been a blur.”
“We have been in a state of shock,” he said “Just a fog of grief.”
“But the people in the community just came around us, whether it was Singapore, Boston, Brunei or Dubai and they just wrapped us around and helped us out – not to mention the community locally and nationally as well.
“Grief hits us all at some stage but it was just the shock. You have plans and next thing, bang. You are just left with this disbelief. The support we have got off people and condolences has just been phenomenal really.”
Appeal
The family have now set up a support fund for Anna and Fionn and are appealing for donations.
“We were grappling with what to do and how to help them and we came up with this idea of a support fund,” said Sean.
“It is just great to get any support and we want to thank anybody up to now who has donated; it has been just phenomenal really.”
GAA
He said Anna is due in February and the funds will also go towards funeral expenses, legal fees and the cost of the family’s relocation from Dubai.
Sean said the GAA community has been extremely supportive of the family in recent weeks.
“The GAA is more than a sliotar and a football and I always said, they mightn’t be perfect but by god, when it comes to something like this, they are another family - along with the community and everyone who will just help and support you, unconditionally, which is brilliant.”
