![\"\"](\"http:\/\/irishexaminerusa.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/AoibheAndLaurenOConnerWithEdSheeranMay18_large.jpg\")
Tributes have been paid to a brave little girl who has died suddenly just days after meeting her idol, pop star Ed Sheeran.<\/p>\nTributes have been paid to a brave little girl who has died suddenly just days after meeting her idol, pop star Ed Sheeran.<\/p>\n
Aoibhe O\u2019Connor, aged 11, from Mogeely in East Cork, passed away unexpectedly at home on Wednesday. It is understood she suffered cardiac arrest after a minor fall.<\/p>\n
Aoibhe, who was a pupil at Inch National School, had an ultra-rare genetic condition called mucolipidosis. She was understood to have been the only person in Ireland with the life-limiting condition.<\/p>\n
But her death, just days after her dream-come-true meeting with Sheeran, came as a complete shock.<\/p>\n
A photograph of her beaming from ear-to-ear alongside the \u2018Castle on the Hill\u2019 star was published in Tuesday\u2019s Irish Examiner.<\/p>\n
Aoibhe O’Connor, with her sister Lauren, left, meeting her hero Ed Sheeran in Cork last Friday before his P\u00e1irc U\u00ed Chaoimh.
\nHer special meet-and-greet was organised with the help of 96FM\u2019s breakfast show presenter, KC, who approached Aiken Promotions with the special request, who in turn contacted Sheeran\u2019s management.<\/p>\n
The star invited Aoibhe, her sister Lauren, and their parents John and Emma, backstage before the opening gig of his European tour in Cork\u2019s P\u00e1irc U\u00ed Chaoimh last Friday night.<\/p>\n
John told the Irish Examiner on Monday Sheeran spent several minutes with the girls, chatting to them about their favorite music and posing for photographs.<\/p>\n
He said Aoibhe was so excited to meet him and said Sheeran couldn\u2019t have been more accommodating.<\/p>\n
He said it was all part of their ongoing efforts to make \u201cmemories for life\u201d for her for however long that life may have been.<\/p>\n
He described her as a bright and bubbly child who loved Sheeran\u2019s music, playing his CDs on repeat constantly, and who loved being part of the Rebel Wheeler wheelchair sports group.<\/p>\n
Aoibhe, who was a QueenBee ambassador for the childrens\u2019 national ambulance service, Bumbleance, was remembered last night as an \u201camazing young lady\u201d by the charity\u2019s co-founder, Tony Heffernan.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am personally shocked and very sad. I know what it\u2019s like to lose a child. There are just no words,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
She was a powerful little package, full of laughter and joy. I have reached out to her parents and family to tell them that we are here to provide whatever support we can as they prepare for that lonely walk with their child.<\/p>\n
Aoibhe is survived by her heartbroken parents, John and Emma; by her sisters Lauren, eight, and Megan, three; grandparents and her great-grandmother, Elsie.<\/p>\n