The grieving uncle of a young Dublin teenager who died following an asthma attack has paid tribute to his beloved "cheeky chappie".
Darren Travers said the family is still in shock after the tragic death of Killian Burnett, 15, on Tuesday.
Darren told Dublin Live: "He was a cheeky chappie.
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"He’s like any teenager. He used to go around carol singing at Christmas and he couldn’t even sing!
"He’d come home and say, ‘Uncle Darren, I’m after earning this money from carol singing’. Or he’d ask anybody coming out of the shop, ‘Can I take your trolley back for the euro?’
"He was a good businessman. He was a good kid. He was a quiet kid and he would hate you to argue with him."
The Finglas schoolboy had been suffering from recurring asthma attacks over the past year.
Darren added: "He’s been in and out of Temple Street Children’s Hospital on numerous occasions.
"Only a few weeks ago they resuscitated him twice. In fact, yesterday would be the third time he’d been resuscitated."
A couple of weeks ago, his parents took him to hospital for an appointment which took nearly three years to get.
But the family was in for a nasty shock after they were told the appointment had been cancelled.
Darren continued: "They said they had contacted the father the night before to tell them and his dad said, ‘Nobody rang me. What number do you have?’
"It was a completely different number but nobody had contacted him. That was the exam he needed to find out what was wrong with his chest and it was cancelled after three years."
Darren said the last few months had been especially tough on the Killian who was "afraid to go to sleep at night".
He said: "His dad had to sleep in the room with him because of the amount of attacks he was having. They were just recurring constantly.
"Yesterday was the first time he himself screamed at his dad to call an ambulance. He knew it was bad."
Darren said that he didn't blame the healthcare workers who were under severe pressure due to an overloaded system.
But he was shocked when Killian was sent home an hour after being defibrillated at hospital a few weeks ago.
He said: "It’s just unbelievable. There have been mistakes made I’m sure of it with the healthcare system.
"We can’t pinpoint or blame one person. They’re struggling at the minute but this was 100% avoidable."
Killian will be laid to rest on Monday.
Darren added: "I just think children in this day and age struggle through life because of the way the world is at the minute. I feel sorry for them.
"They haven’t got the opportunities out there. I hope kids now realise that life is so short and you just don’t know what’s going to happen. You have to take every opportunity you can.
"It’s way too young for anyone to pass and for a parent to bury their child. "
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