Nursing home worker who died after car went off road to be repatriated to India tomorrow

Olivia Kelleher

A kitchen assistant at a nursing home who died after his car went off the road and into a river is to be repatriated to his native India following a visitation at a funeral home in Fermoy, Co Cork on Tuesday.

Joice Thomas died after an accident occurred on the R628 Conna Road on Friday evening as he made his way home in heavy rain from Ballincurrig nursing home in Leamlara, Co Cork. The 34-year-old started working at the home just two months ago.

A GoFundMe page was set up over the weekend to help the family of Mr Thomas and to pay for the cost of bringing his body back home for burial.

Over €93,000 has been raised to assist the loved ones of Mr Thomas, who was originally from the state of Kerala in India but was living in Ballynoe, Co Cork.

He lived on the Main Street of the town with wife Ruby Kuriakose, who is a nurse, their four-month-old son Jacques and two-year-old daughter Jacqueline.

In a death notice on Rip.ie Mr Thomas is described as having been a loving and much-loved husband, father and son.

He is survived by his wife Ruby and their children, his parents, Shoshamma and Thomas, and his sister, who is also called Ruby. He will also be much missed by his extended family, “loyal friends” in Ireland and India, work colleagues and his “kind neighbours.”

Mr Thomas will lie in repose from 4.30pm to 7pm on Tuesday at Ronayne’s Funeral Home in Fermoy. His funeral service and burial will take place in Kambammettu in Kerala in India. A mass of solidarity is also set to be held at Ballynoe Church tomorrow in support of the family and friends of Mr Thomas.

The body of the deceased was discovered on Saturday morning when a passerby noticed his vehicle submerged in the River Bride. He was pronounced dead at the scene. A postmortem was carried out at Cork University Hospital.

Meanwhile, gardaí are appealing to members of the public who may have witnessed the accident to contact them.

Road users who may have camera footage (including dash-cam) and were travelling on the Conna Road R628 between 10pm on Friday and 10am on Saturday are asked to make this footage available to investigating gardaí.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Fermoy Garda Station on 025 82100, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111, or any Garda station.

Donations can be made to the GoFundMe page at https://gofund.me/18a0b472b.