'Noah's death has left a massive void:' Derry dad finds support and is helping others in group formed by grieving families
The father of a young Derry man who tragically died last year in a road traffic collision has hailed the community support his family has received since the loss of their ‘intelligent, hilarious’ son.
Noah Karran was just 18 years old when he passed away in a collision near Claudy in September last year.
Since his death, his parents, Eamonn and Joanne, have become involved with the newly-established charity initiative Road Victim Support Northern Ireland – Derry and Donegal.
The organisation was set up by County Derry woman Debbie Mullan, whose son, Keelan, also passed away in a collision in 2013.
Eamonn, a well-known musician, spoke to the Journal this week ahead of an event to be held on August 8 in Derry, which will celebrate the success of Seamus Kennedy’s new memoir ‘Grace Will Lead Me Home.’
Proceeds of the books sold on the day will be given to Road Victim Support Northern Ireland and a minute’s silence will be held in memory of Noah and all those who have died on our roads.
Eamonn has set up another group within the charity, called ‘Men’s Time to Talk.’ Its mission is to support fathers, brothers, uncles, cousins, friends and all men who are grieving the loss of a loved one sadly lost as a result of a collision.
Eamonn said that, in the months following Noah’s passing, he ‘bottled everything up’ and wanted to ‘stay strong’ for Joanne and their other children.
However, he realised that this, in turn, was also upsetting them ‘as they saw me struggling –what I was trying to do was having the opposite effect’.
It also wasn’t helping his own grief. At the time, Joanne was speaking with Debbie Mullan, who was in the process of setting up the charity organisation. The couple became involved and Eamonn became aware that very few men were coming to meetings.
"Men’s Time to Talk held our first meeting last week. It went really well and we have between eight and 10 men on board at the minute.
"When we met, the men were just talking, talking, talking. They loved talking about their kids.”
Noah, said Eamonn, was the youngest of five – the baby – who was growing into an exceptional young man.
"He was on a different level. From the age of 13 he ran his own business (fixing mobile phones and building computers) and he was so focused on leaving school and opening his own shop, which he managed to do. He was so successful and so intelligent, with many great connections in the town. He is such a massive loss to everyone.
"Noah was an old soul and achieved more in his 18 years than I’ve achieved in 40-odd. He was a computer genius and taught himself everything.
"He also more or less ended up teaching other people who were trained in it and became that skilled that people in shops were contacting him for advice. He would have done things for people we wouldn’t even have known about.”
Eamonn said that it’s still hard to believe that his son has gone.
"It’s just this massive void in your life. Every single day, when you wake up, you get that split second where you’re ok and then you remember and it’s like reliving it all over again.”
The charity has been a great support, as has the local community.
“You wouldn’t believe how good people are. Derry is like a big village and you really do see the best in people.”