Young woman who got engaged on dream holiday dies on flight home ‘from blood clot while in the air’
Charity volunteer Mejella Donoghue, 30, fell ill as she returned from South Africa with her new fiancé Barry Doherty
A NEWLY-engaged woman has died after falling ill on a flight home from a holiday of a lifetime.
Majella Donoghue, 30, passed away as she flew from South Africa to Heathrow with her new fiancé Barry Doherty.
The pair had just got engaged after meeting Majella’s godparents on their trip.
They were on the flight from Cape Town to London when the tragic incident occurred.
Doctors and paramedics worked to save the Mayo woman before they landed at Heathrow, where an ambulance was waiting.
Tragically however, she died later in hospital with Barry and some of her family by her side.
An autopsy is set to be carried out but it is suspected her death was caused by a blood clot to the lungs while in the air.
Her heartbroken fiancé shared a picture of the pair on Facebook yesterday taken shortly after they got engaged abroad.
He captioned it: “Lovely photo when we picked up the engagement ring which was hand-made for Majella in Cape Town.
"Our last photo together, she was so happy.”
Friends and family wrote under the image to share their grief.
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One pal said: “Barry — like everyone, I’m lost for words, desperately trying to understand this awful situation. I’m so sorry for your loss.
"There isn’t one picture of you both where you’re not smiling or hysterically laughing.
"Thinking of you all during this difficult and upsetting time.”
Another added: “Oh Barry, I am so sorry for your loss, Majella was a lovely person. Thinking of you.”
Majella, from Tirrane in Belmullet, worked as a Talent Acquisition Specialist at Galway-based health manufacturers Boston Scientific.
She also was a long-term volunteer for the ISPCC, travelled to Saigon with the Christina Noble Foundation and recently raised money for both the Irish Cancer Society and Western Alzheimer’s.
Majella and Barry were huge sports fans and followed Mayo GAA and Connacht Rugby.
She leaves behind her mother Mary, twin brother Stephen, as well as brothers Tommy, David and Brendan, and sister Angela. Her dad Willie died some years ago.
Local councillor Gerry Coyle said the entire Belmullet area is “in mourning”.
He told the Irish Sun: “We are all in shock. Another young life has gone from the area.
"I knew Majella and her family, they were hard-working people. In these circumstances you just think of how sad it is. We have to be there to help them now in these sad times.
“It should have been a happy time for her, coming home engaged. Instead, we’re all gutted.”
Belmullet parish priest, Fr John Loftus, said the community was numbed by the sudden death of Majella who he said was “pleasant, considerate and kind”.
He added: “Just to meet Majella would put you in good form.
“She had a social conscience. Her good deeds spanned the world. She worked in Vietnam on charity purposes at one stage.”
Senator Rose Conway Walsh added: “We are all in a state of shock — she had her whole life ahead of her. "It is terribly shocking for the family and the community.
"We are all devastated.”