Katy French R.I.P

Last wednesday I received an email from a PR company extoiling the virtues of some over-priced drink they were promoting, the name of which conveniently escapes me. It was the day before the much publicised Katy French birthday event in Dublin's Krystle nightclub and the event was being sponsored the drink in question. The email waxed lyrical about the 'A-listers' that indulged in the drink in question, Timberlake, Aguilera etc and threw in the fact that it retails at 35 euro a shot or 250 euro a bottle. I found the email both hilarious and far fetched at the same time, so much so I forwarded it to herself with a message attached which read "have a laugh at this, who the f**k does she think she is?"

I had been one of the many thousands that had been bored to tears at the endless coverage given to this woman by our papers, radio and television and I believed that she was into the last phase of her reign as Ireland's 'media darling', the revelations about her past drug use and the over the top birthday party being last ditch attempts to grab headlines.

To be fair to her she made no bones about courting publicity. I watched her appearance on Tubridy Tonight recently and when Ryan Tubridy posed the question about her constant presence in the media, she didn't try to play it down.She simply explained that the more publicity she could entice, the more business she could drum up and charge top dollar for. I didn't want to admit it to myself at the time but I felt myself warming to her for her honesty. There was also no getting away from the fact that she was a very beautiful looking woman.

My reaction to the news that she had been hospitalized was mixed. I thought to myself that if she had been stupid enough to resume her cocaine habit so soon after denouncing it in the press as the work of the devil, then she deserved all she got. Little did I know at the time just how serious her condition was. I felt myself warming even more to her as I read accounts of Katy's life and her devotion to her charity work from various journalists and peers in the newspapers and it soon became apparent to me that I had judged her on the image she presented to the public without realizing that there was much more to this woman that meets the eye. As I drove home from tuesdays show I listened to the news which didn't offer much hope in the way of recovery for her condition, I said out loud to myself "come on Katy, you've come too far to go away now".

Sadly, Katy lost her battle yesterday evening at 5.15pm and the loss of a confident, intelligent and beautiful daughter must be such a devastating loss for her family. In fact, I can't even imagine what they are going through. The loss of a child is something no parent can ever come to terms with.

I didn't know Katy, nor have our paths ever crossed but in the last few days since she was struck down I felt that I at least was allowed an insight into her life. An insight that went far beyond the parties, photo shoots, relationship break ups and publicity seeking - the real Katy French was finally reported albeit too late for her to be given a chance by sometimes short sighted people like me. Goal's John O'Shea enthused about her devotion to her charity work, something a cynic might scorn at but from John's warmth while he was paying tribute to Katy I could tell that he was being genuine and that Katy's efforts were too. It is a great shame that she will never get to fulfill her ambitions for the Goal cause.

All I can think this morning as I write this is what a waste of a life. Here was a woman who lived life to the full, be it work or play. Unfortunately the play aspect of her life involved the seedier side of socialising in Dublin but it appeared that from her last newspaper interview that lessons had been learned and she had moved on. What went on at the infamous house party in Co Meath has been discussed at length over the last few days but let's wait until the post mortem is released until we make presumptions on what happened.

My thoughts are with Katy's family and friends at this very difficult time. God bless you all.

Andy