‘Little angels, so precious making loom bands for my baby’ Jannah

A 12-year-old girl who passed away this month was remembered at the Good Friday Tattoo Day as her peers fundraised for the grieving family.

“Little angels, so precious making the loom bands for my baby,” wrote Katrina Browne, from Brookview, who lost her daughter Jannah Shahzad earlier this month.

At the Tattoo Day in aid of Tallaght suicide prevention service HOPE, on Friday, April 18, three girls set up a stand in memory of Jannah, where they made and sold loom bands for €1 each.

With the money raised, Katrina bought a guitar that Jannah was going to get this month after her confirmation, “with a trust that I will one day play a tune of joy in her name,” she wrote.

The idea of getting the guitar came from her asking Jannah to “guide me towards a piece of her but that would stay in my heart forever.”

Katrina thanked the girls for their time and compassion and said that seeing them doing that for Jannah made her feel devastated and proud at the same time.

“Every day forward, everything we do will be with Jannah’s name,” she added, as she also bought an Egyptology book in connection with the Ankh symbol she always wears.

“This is my baby teaching me, opening me up to heal as the ancient goddess healed,” she wrote.

“To scream and cry and then learn and grow and scream again but learn and grow once more.

“I needed this my sweetest goddess and I’m so forever grateful that you are already walking, not every step with me, but in my heart forever.”

Jannah was a sixth-class pupil at St Thomas SNS in Jobstown and a camogie player with St Marks GAA.

Following her death on April 3, Katrina shared an emotional message on her Facebook page saying that she couldn’t understand how much her child was “suffering inside,” as “all she did was smile and joke and dance and sing and play sports with me and try to make us happy.”

She then encouraged parents not to be afraid to speak openly about mental health to their children and always ask them the “hard questions.”

On Tattoo Day at St Aengus Community Centre, people grieving for the loss of loved ones and the wider community supported HOPE Suicide Prevention’s mission which is still very much needed.

If you need support, contact

• HOPE on 089 610 5476, or by messaging the HOPE Suicide Prevention Centre Tallaght Facebook page,
• Visit the NINA for Life Suicide Awareness Facebook page, or text HELP to 51444.
• Pieta provides 24/7 support via the freephone helpline 1800 247 247.