Mother tells how One Direction star and bandmates were ‘so kind’ to Cork boy in London hospital

Former One Direction star Liam Payne, who died on Wednesday, brought joy to millions of fans worldwide — but the great kindness he and his bandmates once showed in a hospital in London will never be forgotten by the family of a Cork teenager who ed away four years ago.

Cathal O’Neill was just 16 when he succumbed to illness in November 2020, but he packed a lot into his short years, touching countless lives and making the world a brighter place just by being in it.

When Cathal was born, doctors feared his spina bifida might mean the Cathedral Rd child would not live to see his first birthday, so his mother initially threw him weekly birthday parties, complete with cakes and guests, to make up for the days he might not see.

In November 2011, when Cathal was seven, he was in the Great Ormonde Street Hospital in London, waiting with his family for test results in the kidney unit waiting room.

Cathal’s mum Pauline re the day well.

“This boy band ed us, and I didn’t know who they were, but this little girl who was in the waiting room with us said: ‘That’s One Direction!’ and Cathal said: ‘Oh they’re great!’ so I ran down the corridor and asked them would they come back,” she said.

“They were going to another ward first but they came back about half an hour later, and said hello and Naill Horan said to Cathal: ‘Are you from Cork?’ because Cathal had the Cork jersey on.

“The lads chatted to Cathal and the little girl for ages, they were messing with them and they spent a lot of time with them and had the craic, they were really nice to them.

“They were really lovely, and it was a lovely moment. And sure Cathal was a lifelong fan of One Direction after that. He loved singing himself and he loved singing their songs. He was mad about them.”

There was a small connection between Cathal and Liam Payne, in that they were both born with only one kidney.

“I can’t any of their conversation, because Niall Horan took over the whole chat with him practising his Cork accent on Cathal, but they were such nice lads and they were so kind,” Pauline said.

“Cathal ed away suddenly on November 2, 2020, he ed away in his sleep.

“He was such a huge loss to us.”

The baby of four children, Cathal has been an irreplaceable loss in the lives of his siblings Sarah, Terry and Ciara, his dad Terry, and his extended family and friends, Pauline said.

“Our house was always mad full of life, full of joy, full of songs, the messing, and our house is gone very quiet now.” Cathal is still a constant presence in their lives, Pauline said, and she has taken up a job as a Special Needs Assistant in the School of the Divine Child Lavanagh Centre in Ballintemple, where Cathal was a student.

She added that it was very sad that Liam Payne had ed away so young, adding that he and his fellow band had shown great kindness to Cathal and another little child, when he was little more than a child himself.

“They were so kind and they gave so much of their time and it stayed with Cathal all his life,” she said.

Singer’s family ‘heartbroken’

Payne died of multiple traumas and “internal and external haemorrhage”, as a result of a fall from the balcony of a Buenos Aires hotel’s third floor, an autopsy report has said.

A press release from Argentina’s national criminal and correctional prosecutor’s office No 16 said it would be investigating the incident as an “inconclusive death” after the conclusions of the report.

Payne’s family told the PA news agency in a statement, issued via a spokeswoman, that they were “heartbroken” and added: “Liam will forever live in our hearts and we’ll him for his kind, funny and brave soul.” The prosecutor’s office said five witnesses were questioned in order to reconstruct what happened on Wednesday at the CasaSur Hotel in the Palermo area of Buenos Aires.

One Direction was formed in 2010 .

After becoming one of the biggest pop groups in the world, with five albums and four world tours, they went on indefinite hiatus in 2016.