Editorial: Unimaginable sense of loss permeates Waterford communities

On Thursday morning last, Waterford people awoke to news of a horrific accident on Waterford city’s Cork Road.

One teenager had died and another was in a critical condition in University Hospital Waterford. They had both been travelling on an e-scooter in the early hours of the morning, coming home from an all-night gym.

Tragedy struck when they collided with a JJ Kavanagh bus that was travelling the route at the time.

Sadly, both Gilbert Collins, aged 15 from Ardmore Park, and his friend Avu (Avuzwa) Idris, aged 17 from Crystal Mews, a short distance away, both died of their injuries.

These boys were cherished within their families and communities - school, soccer and beyond.

They were role models for their peers. They had just completed their school exams - the junior and leaving certificate respectively, and were looking forward to the long summer days ahead, no doubt with lots of football.

Both were incredibly talented in the sport, and beloved members of their clubs.

At Ardmore Park on Friday evening, devastated members of their families gathered with their friends and neighbours in a show of solidarity as they attempted to come to terms with such unbearable grief.

The colourful, helium-filled balloons, many decorated with messages of condolence, floated high into the sky, a poignant gesture, as those present tried to offer some solace to those closest to Gilbert and Avu.

This week, once again these close-knit communities of the Cork Road rally around both families as they bid a final farewell to the teenagers, who are being buried in close proximity to each other at Kilbarry cemetery.

Meanwhile, St Paul’s Community College and De La Salle College, as well as Villa FC and Waterford Crystal FC, and the various sporting groups and clubs the boys’ were involved with, are supporting their friends at such a desperately difficult time.

Guards of honour are being provided as they make their final journeys - Gilbert's on Tuesday last and Avu today (Thursday).

For countless young people, the heart for this summer in Waterford city has been ripped cruelly from them.

Their grief, and that of their families, will be gently carried and supported by all of us as a community.

The memories of Avu and Gilbert, their vitality and zest for life, their passion in their sport and hobbies will endure, in their clubs, and far beyond on all those playing pitches which knew their magic.

Much of what happens in this life is inexplicable, and often cruel.

But the strength of the human spirit carries forward, and, in Waterford, it will carry those closest to Gilbert and Avu through the days, weeks, months and years ahead.

May they both Rest in Peace.