'MY ANGEL'
Nora Quoirin’s mum’s heartbreaking poem to ‘gruffest angel ever made’ as teen, 15, is laid to rest in emotional funeral
TRAGIC Nora Quoirin was laid to rest today as her mum read a moving poem to the "gruffest angel ever made"at her funeral.
The 15-year-old's body was discovered on August 13 near a waterfall after a bungled police search - just two miles from the hotel she was staying in.
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Vulnerable Nora, who had severe learning difficulties, died from stress and starvation after being missing in the Malaysian jungle for ten days.
She was laid to rest today in an emotional in her mother Meabh's native Belfast - the same church where she was baptised.
Meabh read a heartbreaking poem in tribute to her tragic daughter.
Nora's poem by mum Meabh
One part of my is a part unknown,
The truth within I know defies,
Not true to mind but true in time,
The tutor in my life has come.
One core to mine is a core passed on,
Its path untraced, its vision blurred,
It reaches heights I cannot learn,
Instinctive and still brave it runs.
One raucous squeal of hilarity,
Of teasing, squashing, caring fame,
The constant turn of fortunes games,
No fun, no punch an easy peace.
One memory is sure and raw,
A glance of free unusual thought,
Preserves the smiles with every cost,
Reflects at rest in bewildered awe.
One rebel must beside me stay,
The eldest innocent my care,
No more anxious notes, the prayer,
For the gruffest angel ever made.
Father Eddie O’Donnell today referred to Nora's "gentleness and her innocence".
He told mourners: "She, as we all know, depended greatly on others but, Nora in turn, gifted others with immeasurable love and joy; before such an ability we can only feel gratitude.”
The priest continued: "I ask myself, as surely you must do, ‘What is the meaning of this terrible pain that has been inflicted on Nora’s family?’
"We have, have we not, found ourselves wondering if God is good and has for us the love that no human love can match, why then is there such suffering in our world?
“We do not understand, and our stumbling words are so terribly inadequate.”
The desperate search for Nora
August 4: Nora is reported missing after her father discovers she is not in her bedroom at the Dusun Resort at around 8am on Sunday.
The window was also open in the room that Nora had been sharing with her two siblings.
August 5: Missing persons charity The Lucie Blackman Trust says that Malaysian police are treating Nora's disappearance as a potential abduction, but officers deny there is any foul play involved.
August 6: Nora's family say they believe her to have been abducted.
"She never goes anywhere by herself. We have no reason to believe she wandered off and is lost."
August 7: Police say they are analysing unidentified fingerprints an open window and in a downstairs hall found in the family's hotel suite.
August 9: Police investigate whether footprints found in the forest where Nora went missing belong to the missing teen. Her family say she wouldn't have wandered off on her own.
August 10: Nora's family thank the search teams involved since the teenager's disappearance.
August 11: Hundreds of rescuers still involved in the search operation a week after she disappeared.
August 12: A visibly emotional Mrs Quoirin makes a further appeal for her daughter to return home.
"Nora is our first child. She has been vulnerable since the day she was born.
"She is so precious to us and our hearts are breaking. We are appealing to anyone who has information about Nora to help us find her."
A reward of £10,000 - donated by an anonymous Belfast business - is made available for information leading to Nora's safe return.
August 13: A body is found and police said Nora's parents confirmed it was her .
August 14: An initial post-mortem examination inconclusive
August 15: Post-mortem finds that Nora died of intestinal bleeding after a stomach ulcer burst, probably caused by hunger and stress.
Nora was on the first night of a "trip of a lifetime" with her family - including sister Innes, 12 and brother Maurice, eight - when she vanished.
She is believed to have left the room where she was staying with her two siblings at the Dusun resort south of Kuala Lumpur and wandered into dense rainforest.
A huge search was launched and her body was discovered naked by a team of volunteer hikers ten days after she disappeared in an area already scoured by cops.
One hiker said the teen looked like “she was sleeping” when they found her as her head was resting on her hands.
Nora - who was born with the brain defect holoprosencephaly - is believed to have been dead for up to three days before being found.
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A post-mortem examination found she died from internal bleeding in her intestine after a stomach ulcer burst, following a period of prolonged hunger and stress.
Authorities have ruled out any foul play but her mum Meabh, 45, and French dad Sebastian, 47, say she would not have walked away on her own.
The teen's devastated family said they still have “many questions” over her death.
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Nora Quoirin search team expert says it was ‘impossible’ for her to reach jungle ravine
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