During Mia Keevan’s funeral in Ireland, Father Paul Waldron warned young people to ‘mind yourselves’ while remembering the tragic teen who died after attending the Emerge festival
A priest has today remembered the life of a teenage girl who tragically died after falling ill at a music festival while issuing a warning to young people.
Mia Keevan, 17, became unwell at the Emerge festival in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and sadly passed away in hospital last week. The teen’s funeral was held at St Nicholas’ Church in Carrick-on-Suir, Co Tipperary, Ireland, as Father Paul Waldron urged young people to think about the choices they make and to watch out for each other.
Mourners, who were asked to wear bright colours during the Mass on Saturday, were told Mia was the happiest she had ever been as she approached her 18th birthday, and that the log book for her new car had arrived in the post after her death. The priest began the service by saying people in the town had been shocked since Mia’s death.
READ MORE: Teen girl who died at Emerge Belfast festival pictured as family pay tribute
Fr Waldron said Mia was “so young, so full of dreams, so beautifully alive” as he continued: “Mia did not just walk quietly through life, she ran, she danced, she climbed. She was always chasing after something that mattered, she lived her adventures. She was clever, she was cheeky, she was mischievous in the best of ways, she had a spark in her eye when she told you she knew exactly what she was doing, usually it was something fun or something a bit bold, or maybe both.”
The priest added: “Behind that roguish grin was something deeper. Her family were telling me how determined she was, she didn’t just dream, she chased after her dreams, she sprinted after them with everything she had.” Fr Waldron told mourners that the log book for Mia’s new car had arrived at her family home on Friday. He said: “She would have been jumping around the room with joy; she had her alloy wheels, she had her windows tinted and she had a big fluffy keyring.
“She was determined she was going to be driving. She didn’t just wait for life to come to her, she lived it. She has left behind a legacy for all of us gathered here in the church far bigger than her 17 years. She taught us that we just need a heart, we need a heart for everyone, to be kind, to help one another and she had that in abundance.”
Fr Waldron said there were a number of young people in the congregation. He said: “I just want you to be careful, to watch out for yourself, to be cautious, to think about the choices that we make, to be there for each other. That is what we want for you, that is what Mia’s family want for you.
“They asked me to say that, that you would mind yourself and that you would care for yourselves. All of us make different choices every day, some of them are the right choices, some of them are the wrong choices, but please to all the young people, just mind yourselves.”
Mia’s sister, Kyah Keevan, gave an emotional tribute, saying Mia had been “feisty, loving and full of life”, the Irish Mirror reports. She said: “She could tell you exactly what you thought, whether you wanted to hear it or not. If she didn’t like you, you would know about it. That honesty was part of her charm.”
She added: “She had this way of making everyone laugh, no matter how annoyed you were at her, you couldn’t stay mad for long because she would already be on to her next plan, scheming about what she was going to do next. She ran her own race, always on her terms and we loved that about her. She had big dreams, visiting me in Australia was one and there was always new ones popping into her head every single minute.”
Ms Keevan said Mia had recently bought her first car, describing it as her “absolute pride and joy”. She added: “Over the past couple of months Mia was the happiest she had ever been, everything was falling into place and some of her dreams had come true, her car, her boyfriend Jack and she was so close to her 18th birthday.
“She never held a grudge, we could argue one minute and the next she’d be chatting away about something else as if nothing had happened. She loved deeply and when she loved you, you felt it. She was fiercely loyal, you weren’t her true friend if she hadn’t blocked you at some point.
“What happened to her was tragic and there are no words that can make sense of it. But I do know her spirit, her laughter, her honesty, her dreams and her love will never leave us. She lived her life boldly and she made an impact on everyone who knew her.” After the Mass, Mia was buried at St Mary’s cemetery.