Dad Gets Standing Ovation After Making Heartbreaking Plea At Funeral For Son, 14, Who Died In Crash

Credit: Irish Mirror

At the funeral of his 14-year-old son, a distraught father was given a standing ovation after speaking.

Heartbroken Lukas Joyce, a little boy, was killed in a car accident on Easter Monday (9 April), and Joe Joyce begged his son's pals to "think of their parents" during the heartbreaking funeral.

The address, which was delivered earlier this week at St. Brendan's Church in Annaghdown, has struck an emotional chord with grieving parents all throughout Ireland.

Credit: Irish Mirror

Four schoolchildren suffered injuries, including Lukas, in the early morning collision outside of Headford.

Tragically, he and his 14-year-old classmate Kirsty Bohan died in the horrifying collision, while two additional kids are receiving medical attention in a hospital.

Joe was the first to get a heartbreaking call from the police informing him that his kid had passed away. Neringa, his wife, had to be informed.

Credit: Creative Commons/ Robert Bone

“The hardest phone call I ever had to make,” he admitted during the funeral.

The community united around the families of the unexpectedly deceased Presentation College students, with hundreds of people showing their solidarity outside St. Brendan's.

Joe spoke to a crowded church during the funeral in a heartfelt speech about his young son.

The mourners listened closely for a half hour as the father spoke about his close relationship with his son and how the death of his only child has affected the family.

“He was like a little brother to me,” the grief-stricken dad told listeners, adding: “He was with me on the farm or in the workshop or beside me in the van ever since he was three or four.”

Then he pointedly stated to the child's friends: “You are not able to drive a car, don’t think you are. Think of your parents. Parents work all week to provide for ye.”

Pausing, he then said: “They go to bed at night, do you want them to wake up to see if the car is outside the backdoor? Or see ye gone with it?”

The speech continued: “What has happened is unreal. What’s going on I don’t know, but I have heard a lot this week, but if I’d known earlier I would have put a stop to it.”

"I saw parents and they walked around Lukas’ coffin and looked in at him and they were probably saying that could be my son.”

The father made an emotional appeal to the kids, almost pleading with them to pay attention: “All I’m asking you, young people, it is not a joke, it is really serious. You might think it is good for Snapchat or whatever you are doing it for.”

He then concluded, by saying: “I’ve heard the stories this week. It’s not fair to your parents. I’m not a parent anymore, and Neringa is not a parent anymore. That’s all I have to say … stop it.”

Following this, Joe was given a standing ovation by the church, who are still in disbelief over the deaths of such young teenagers.