Huge funeral for Irish coastguard helicopter crash pilot

The captain of a Coast Guard helicopter that crashed into the Atlantic during a rescue mission was a brave hero, an adoring mother and a champion of the underdog, her funeral Mass has heard.

Mother-of-one Dara Fitzpatrick, 45, was among the four crew members of a Sikorsky S92 that disappeared without warning off Co Mayo, in the west of Ireland, on Tuesday.
Fr Andrew O’ Sullivan told a packed St Patrick’s Church, Glencullen, in the Dublin mountains, that few funerals were “as profoundly sad and sorrowful” as Ms Fitzpatrick’s.
“We could scarcely believe it then, we can scarcely believe it now,” he said.
“We have lost a talented young woman, who along with her colleagues lived good and generous lives and did so much in helping others in their time of need.”
He added: “How these extraordinary people put their own lives at risk in order to save others - what bravery.
And they truly are heroes.

source,
www.scotsman.com