Life is a Gift

This last week in NI has been a very testing one for all of us.  In the last few days we have seen how cruel, callous, shocking, and deeply tragic life can be with the sad deaths of Brian Og Maguire and three members of the Spence Family.

When i heard the news at the end of last week about the accident in Fermanagh that claimed the life of a rising young fantastic GAA star, i was shocked and saddened and found it tough to think about anything else for the next few days.
Last night around 8pm the news started to break on twitter of a tragic accident on a farm in Hillsborough.  As i continued to watch my time line over the next hour the sheer scale of the tragedy started to develop, and i could hardly believe my eyes with the news of three from the same family being killed and another very seriously injured in hospital.  Of course we are talking about the Spence family, whom i do not know, however feel like i do following reading the news and listening to this disaster of a story all day. 

I was at the gym this morning, trying to prepare for my up and coming marathon.  This past few weeks I've found it very difficult as i have a hamstring strain and haven't been able to get out running.  As i was trying to do my training this morning i couldn't stop thinking of the accidents which have claimed the lives of these four people in the last few days.  When things like this happen, it really rocks you, puts life into perspective and tests everything about your character.  We start asking ourselves all sorts of questions, trying to make sense of it all, with little to no answers.

As i was on twitter last night i read a tweet that Nevin Spence posted yesterday at about 2pm, saying he was out for a cup of coffee in a Belfast restaurant and having a good day.  I bet he never in a million years had any idea of what lay ahead for him and his family later that afternoon.  What a sad sad story and an example of how so cruel life and this world can be at times.

Sometimes you just have to stand back, stop what you are doing, take a few moments to yourself and thank God about all the positive things that you have going for you in your life.  Life is a gift and i know that this coming week i will be a little more thankful for all that i have in my life.

Young Brian Og was laid to rest today in Co Fermanagh where thousands attended the funeral mass to pay their respects.  Later this week thousands will arrive at the Spence's funeral to pay their respects to a great family and support the remaining members of their family.  What a sad time this will be and i just hope that both the Maguire family and Spence Family get the strength from somewhere to get through this week and also the next few months.

Death is terrible at the best of times but in these two separate incidents its even much harder to take as it was a result of accidents at work that were likely very preventable - if only you could turn the clock back a few days.

I felt compelled to blog about this tonight and pray for both sets of families to get the courage and determination to carry on.   RIP Brin Og and Nevin, Graham & Noel Spence