THE ENNISKILLEN community has been rallying around the family of young local woman Katrina Farmer, who sadly passed away last week.
A daughter of Brendan and well-known local woman Rita Cassidy, and a much loved sister, aunty and sister-in-law, there was much shock and sadness at news the 39-year-old had passed away last Thursday.
Ms Cassidy has thanked their friends, neighbours, and the wider community, who she said had been offering her family “overwhelming support” on what had been “the toughest journey of our lives.”
Paying a loving tribute to her daughter, Ms Cassidy said Katrina had suffered with daily pain and had psoriasis since she was a teenager. In recent years she used a powered wheelchair, and last June she had moved into a bungalow in the town.
All the while, the young Enniskillen woman faced her challenges with kindness and bravery.
“She was loved by her carers as she never complained. She was a gentle shy polite woman who loved to build jigsaws and watch sports. She also loved to do puzzles and word searches,” said Ms Cassidy.
“She was very family oriented and she attended her sister Roisin’s wedding on the Friday before she died and had a great time.”
Ms Cassidy, who runs the ‘Enniskillen Family, Friends and Neighbours’ page on Facebook, also thanked the local district carer teams, the staff in Gnangara, Katrina’s distinct nurses, for their dedication, and the emergency services and undertaker John McKeegan, for their kindness and sensitivity.
“We now have to try to adjust to living without her kind gentle smile,” she said. “Her memories will live forever in our hearts and minds. For such a quiet unassuming young woman she touched the hearts of so many.”
Enniskillen woman Debbie Coyle, who will be returning to the Council next week, said the community had rallied around Ms Cassidy following the shock at news of the death of her daughter.
Ms Coyle offered her condolences to all who knew Katrina and said her “heart goes out” to Ms Cassidy and her family.
“Rita is a really well respected community person, mainly online,” said Cllr Coyle. “She has brought together a lot of people in the community. I would like to offer my condolences to her and my thoughts are with her.”
Katrina is survived by her mother Rita, father Brendan, siblings Jamie, Kieran, Roisin, Chrissie and Saoirse, and nieces Emma, her goddaughter, Zoe, Ollie and James.
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