‘A beautiful woman’ – Tributes paid to mum-of-three who is fifth sibling to die in tragic circumstances

Tributes have been paid after the sudden death of a Belfast mother whose sister was killed by a driver in a stolen car.

Colleen McComb (34), who had three young children, passed away on Monday.

She is the fifth sibling to die in tragic circumstances.

Her sister Debbie McComb was killed in March 2002 aged just 15 when she was struck by a stolen car on the Springfield Road in west Belfast.

The McComb family later set up the Families Bereaved Through Car Crime group and were high-profile campaigners against death driving.

Friends this week described Colleen as “a beautiful woman with the biggest heart”.

One said: “Such a beautiful girl, so heartbreaking”.

A family friend praised her mother Mary McComb, who is mourning the loss of a fifth child, saying that she had “suffered more than any mother ever should”.

They promised that the community would once again rally around her and the family.

Tragedy has followed the family since Debbie was killed.

Notorious criminal Harry Marley was jailed for nine years for killing Debbie, and given a further three years for a series of thefts.

A judge at the time said it was “the worst case” of dangerous driving he had encountered. Her death caused community outrage.

Along with others who suffered similar losses, Families Bereaved Through Car Crime met with Government officials and campaigned tirelessly, taking their battle to Westminster.

As a result, they secured tougher sentences for those convicted of death by dangerous driving and a change in the terminology used from “joyriders” to “death drivers”.

Debbie’s death had a terrible impact on the McComb family, who suffered a series of losses in the years that followed.

As well as losing five of her children, Mary McComb’s husband Jim died at a young age.

In 2004, their son Michael tragically passed away aged 18. He was said to have been very close to Debbie and struggled after her death.

In 2012, Gavin McComb, an 18-year-old All-Ireland boxing champion, also died suddenly.

Three years later, Wayne McComb (26), a father of two young children, passed away.

Colleen also lost two children, Kyle and Caoimhin.

A GoFundMe page to help the family was set up by a friend and within a day exceeded the £2,500 target.

It said that “heartbreak returns to the McComb family on the sudden death of Colleen, a 34-year-old mother with three young children.

“As many of you may know, the McComb family have endured so many tragedies in recent years. We have decided to set this page up to ease the burden on the family at this awful time”.

A funeral notice described Colleen McComb as the “beloved daughter of Mary, the late Jim, loving mother of Dean, Zara, Jessica and the late Kyle and Caoimhin, much loved sister of Jim, Jean, Ned, Dean, Billie-Jo and the late Michael, Debbie, Wayne and Gavin”.

The notice said remains will leave the family home at New Barnsley Drive on Saturday morning for 10.30am Requiem Mass at Corpus Christi Church followed by burial in Milltown Cemetery.

It added that her passing was “deeply regretted by her loving family circle”.

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