THE MOTHER of a 14-year-old Irish girl who took her own life after suffering an horrendous campaign of abuse and bullying from her peers says she hopes her daughter's bullies "rot in hell".
Kayleigh Ryan-Sheehan died in hospital in June after attempting suicide and her mother Mary Sheehan has vowed to fight for justice over her daughter's death.
"Kayleigh was a lovely child. She was very bubbly. She had a great sense about her. She was more like an old soul. It's still so hard," said Mary.
"I've got nothing left. My whole routine is gone. I lived for her. I don't see a purpose sometimes. But I will stand and fight until I take my last breath so I can get justice for my child.
"If I can help another little child and let them see that you can come, and there are people to talk to, I will.
"Don't let these bullies take your life."
The mother, from Southill, Limerick, described those who abused her young daughter as "vermin" and now says she wants to work with the council and Government to legislate so this type of bullying can lead to prosecutions.
"The people who do this don't understand the impact they leave behind on families. I miss her so much," said Ms Sheehan.
"Making fake [internet] pages and torturing them so much that they can't bear it any more, that they end their lives," she said.
"Everyone in my community loved Kayleigh and knew what kind of a child she was. She wouldn't hurt a fly. We were so close and we did everything together," said Ms Sheehan.
"For people to bully her, to make her feel she was ugly and lose her self-confidence...But she's not: she's beautiful, my red-haired queen, my princess, my baby. And these vermin robbed me of that. Robbed her of her dreams."
The bereaved mother was speaking on Kayleigh's birthday, and spoke of how she would normally take her daughter out for a meal or go shopping to celebrate.
"I've no routine left. My routine is my baby coming home on the 303 bus, me waiting for her. She would play her music. The house is dead - I'm dead inside," she said.
"Kayleigh was a real angel. She always put everybody before herself. She helped everyone. She had a heart of gold."
Asked if she had a message for the bullies, she added: "I hope they rot in hell for what they did to me and Kayleigh."
