Over a year on from the tragic accident which robbed parents of their daughter, siblings of a sister and two young children of their mother, Vincent and Eileen McCoy have spoken of life since the death of their daughter Kiara.

It will be the second Christmas for Kiara’s sons, Raphael (9) and Jude (5) without their mother but even though Kiara is no longer with them, her parents are determined that she will never be forgotten by her sons.

Since the car accident which claimed Kiara’s life, Vincent and Eileen have become guardians of Raphael and Jude and with this constant support in their lives the boys have all they need to grow up to be “good, mature, respectful men”.

In such a dark time for the family, the presence of Kiara’s two sons were an inspiration to Vincent and Eileen.

“They have been brilliant. They have been excellent and very, very happy and they have been inspirational to us and helped us get through this bad time. Only for them, I don’t know how we would live without them.” explained Vincent.

“Through all this we never look at ourselves to be happy,” said Eileen. “We look to them to be happy and to be at peace and to be comfortable in our company. “They are two fantastic wee men. Honestly we lost Kiara (pictured above) but we have the blessing of her in her two sons who are so full of life.

“The loss is terrible and it will never change but with Kiara living on in them it keeps us going,” said Eileen.

“We just have to normalise life as much as we can for the boys. They are very much into their sports between soccer and Gaelic and rugby. They are very sporty wee boys,” continued Vincent.

The goal now for Vincent and Eileen is to ensure that the future for Raphael and Jude is something that their mother would have been proud of.

“They are very young children and they need the right parenting to grow up to be good, mature and respectful men. And that is what Kiara would have wanted.

“Kiara was an amazing person and she loved life and I know the boys do too.”

The memory of Kiara is a constant reminder for her parents and they also make sure that Kiara’s two boys remember her.

“The most important thing is to keep Kiara’s memory alive and what she lived for. Kiara was pro life, through her work and we want that to be remembered.

“The two boys speak about their mum everyday and they know their mum is watching them from heaven.”

There will always be a constant reminder of Kiara for Raphael and Jude with their grandparents, and as they grow up, Vincent and Eileen are going to make sure they are aware of the impact Kiara made in life, even the fatal accident that took her away.

“We can’t bring Kiara back but if we can save a life, because Kiara was a lifesaver, something good can come from this. And if the impact of Kiara’s loss was to save lives we can show that to Raphael and Jude.”

The road on which Kiara lost her life will always be there as a reminder but with the coroner at Kiara’s inquest writing to the relevant authorities to take action at this dangerous junction in order to prevent further loss of life, that impact can already be seen.