“I’D GIVE ANYTHING TO SEE HER SMILE AGAIN” — HEARTBROKEN HUSBAND’S TRIBUTE TO DANIELLE O’KEANE AFTER TRAGIC ACCIDENT FOLLOWING WESTLIFE CONCERT
“I’D GIVE ANYTHING TO SEE HER SMILE AGAIN” — HEARTBROKEN HUSBAND’S TRIBUTE TO DANIELLE O’KEANE AFTER TRAGIC ACCIDENT FOLLOWING WESTLIFE CONCERT
Danielle O’Keane, 37, was looking forward to a night of music with friends. Days later, her husband and two young sons were facing an unimaginable loss. At her funeral, she was remembered as an “angel on earth” whose kindness touched everyone around her.
A night that began with music, laughter and time with friends ended in heartbreak for the family of Danielle O’Keane, a 37-year-old mother of two from Newry, Northern Ireland.
Danielle had travelled to Dublin to see Westlife perform at the 3Arena on Saturday, September 26, 2026. After the concert, she and her friends took a motorised rickshaw towards the city centre to meet their partners.
During the journey along North Wall Quay, the rickshaw reportedly struck a kerb or divider and overturned. Danielle fell from the vehicle and suffered devastating injuries. She was taken to hospital, where she spent several days receiving intensive care before dying on October 1.
Her death left her husband, Dave, their two young sons, Caolán and Cillian, and a close-knit family and community grieving a loss they had never imagined.
“She was an angel on earth”
At Danielle’s funeral on October 9, family, friends and mourners gathered at St Joseph’s Church in Sheeptown, County Down, to say their final goodbyes.
Her husband delivered an emotional eulogy, struggling to put into words what she had meant to him.
He described Danielle as the most beautiful woman he had ever known, both inside and out, and called her an “angel on earth.”
He spoke about the life they had built together: welcoming their children, buying a home and getting married. Although they had been together for only seven and a half years, he said they had built a whole life together.
They had often wished they had met earlier, he recalled, because even a lifetime together never seemed long enough.
The future they had imagined had suddenly disappeared.
A mother whose world revolved around her boys
For Danielle, family was everything.
Her husband told mourners that she loved being a mother and wife and was always planning the next adventure for their family. Whether it was a holiday, a Christmas experience or something as simple as a trip to the park, she wanted to create happy memories for her children.
He remembered her as selfless and kind, someone who helped others without expecting anything in return.
Her smile, he said, could brighten any room.
In one of the most heartbreaking moments of his tribute, Dave explained that he would give anything to hear her laugh or see her smile again.
He admitted that he felt lost without his best friend, but said his two sons gave him a reason to get up each morning.
A community united in grief
The funeral also reflected the deep affection people had for Danielle across her hometown and beyond.
Rev. Fr. Canon Francis Brown spoke about the particular sadness of losing someone so young, noting the grief experienced by her husband, children and wider family.
He said Danielle had approached life with confidence and looked forward to the years and dreams that lay ahead.
Her death, he added, had touched people throughout the community and across Ireland.
Friends and colleagues also shared tributes, remembering a woman whose warmth and generosity had left a lasting impression.
Westlife pay tribute to their fan
The tragedy also reached the band Danielle had travelled to see.
At a subsequent concert in Newcastle, Westlife paid tribute to her by dedicating Flying Without Wings and You Raise Me Up to Danielle and her grieving family.
The gesture offered a moment of remembrance for a fan whose evening at their concert had become the beginning of a devastating family tragedy.
For those who loved her, however, Danielle will always be remembered for far more than the circumstances of her death.
She was a wife, a mother, a daughter, a sister and a friend — someone who made plans for the future and wanted to fill her children’s lives with happy memories.
A goodbye no family was ready to say
Danielle’s story is a painful reminder of how quickly an ordinary evening can change the course of a family’s life.
A concert that should have remained a happy memory became a night her loved ones will never forget for a very different reason.
As her husband and children face life without her, his words capture the depth of what has been lost: a partner, a best friend and the heart of their family.
Danielle O’Keane was just 37. Her family will carry her love and memory with them, even as they learn to live with her absence.
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