Father of teen girl killed in Monaghan crash speaks of his heartbreak

The father of a teenage girl who lost her life in a Co. Monaghan car crash has opened up about his heartbreak.

17-year-old Kiea McCann and her 16-year-old friend Dlava Mohamed were making their way to Largy College’s debs ball on Monday evening, when the car they were travelling in crashed.

The two girls tragically did not survive the accident. The car’s other passengers, Dlava’s sister Auin (18) and Oisín Clerkin (18), are still in hospital. The driver of the car, Anthony McGinn (60), is said to be in a critical condition in hospital.

Now, Kiea’s father has chosen to open up about his daughter’s untimely death.

Speaking to the Irish Independent, Frankie McCann recalled the moment that he got a phone call immediately after the crash.

“I got out there as quick as I could and tried to revive them with a woman that was there also. I had to move from my daughter to her best friend, but there was nothing I could do. All I could do was ask that they be put lying together,” he explained.

Mr McCann then went on to detail how much the late teenagers had been looking forward to their debs ball that evening.

“There was great excitement here in the house before they went out. We had food and champagne and balloons, and it was going to be a great night,” he recalled.

“They could have got a coach out to the hotel, but they wanted to drive in style, and my friend has a white BMW and he agreed to drive them. We had put red bows and everything on the car,” he added.

Kiea was the fifth eldest in a family of 10 children. Speaking about his daughter, Mr McCann went on to note that Kiea attended her first ever motorbike rally in Kildare on Saturday, just two days before her tragic death. 

“I have a few bikes and Kiea loves them, so we went to the rally and she really enjoyed it,” he said, concluding that the teenager had been looking forward to the future and was “going to college in September to study childcare.”

Kiea's funeral is due to be held this Thursday in Clones.