'I'll never be whole again ...my heart will always long to hold her and hear her laugh'

THE mother of the 16-year-old girl who died in a hit-and-run accident at the weekend has said she “will never be whole again”.

- BY LOUISE WALSH and CATHAL RYAN

Mia Lily Keogh O'Keeffe was walking with her dog on Saturday evening in Navan, Co Meath, when she was struck by a car on the Slane Road.

In a heartfelt post on social media to the driver, Mia's mother Louise said her daughter was incredibly talented and her death had caused her the “deepest pain”.

She wrote: “I know this will find you easily, just as easily as people found her name and photos and just as easily as you took her from me. You need to hear what your negligence has caused. It starts with a mistake, that leads to a consequence, she was the consequence and you have started an unbearable ripple of grief.

“It starts with me, I'm her mother, I carried her and gave her life and she gave me the most beautiful gift of being her mother. She truly was a gift and a most talented girl. She taught herself crafts and was an incredible artist of many different kinds, everything from crocheting to painting and clay.

“She taught herself languages, just because she was that clever. You stopped it in its tracks. Her learning, her talent, you took her dreams from her.

“She was going on holiday with her school in a couple weeks. Her clothes will be delivered and her bag lays unpacked. I got her a personalised name tag made for it that will never get used.

“She was my daughter, but she was also a sister. Her sister left behind and her three baby brothers are never going to have the same life, because you've taken a part of them away.