Cailean’s Obituary Written By Our Family

Cailean Walker Sheeran, student, talented musician, proud American and beloved family member, passed away on May 12, 2004. He is survived by his father John, mother Maureen, sisters Brittany and Mariel, nephew Dexter and dog Emma. He is further survived by his grandmothers Marie Miller and Jean Sheeran; aunts Claire Levin, Bernadette Miller, Carol Miller, Dolores Norton and Patricia Sheeran; uncles Dale Levin, Richard Miller and Peter Sheeran; cousins John Levin, Jennifer Miller, Pete Sheeran, Rebecca Stokes and Willem Van Bergen. He is preceded in death by his two grandfathers, Richard V. Miller and John D. Sheeran Sr. He also left behind many wonderful friends. Cailean would have been eighteen on June 20th and intended to graduate from James I. O?Neill High School in Highland Falls, NY and to continue his education in Boston, MA.

He was born in Manhattan and lived his early years in Jeffersonville, NY until he moved to Garrision, NY at the age of five. Through the years, Cailean adopted many nicknames including KK, Buddy, Cato and KayMan. Cailean had many interests including playing tennis and basketball and faithfully rooting for the Boston Celtics. His greatest pleasure and the interest that he took so much pride in, was his love of the guitar and song writing. He also enjoyed listening to music and attending concerts. Some of his favorite bands and artists included Dave Matthews Band, Coldplay and Mike Doughty of Soul Coughing.

If you wish you can make a donation in Cailean?s memory to one of the following:
1) Neurological Lyme Disease Research: please mail to:
NYS Psychiatric Institute
c/o Dr. Brian Fallon
1051 Riverside Drive Unit 69
New York, NY 10032.

The check should be made out to the Research Foundation for Mental Hygiene. In the lower left hand corner of the check, please indicate that the proceeds should be used for Neurological Lyme Disease research

2)Young Concert Artists Inc., an organization dedicated to discovering and launching the careers of extraordinary young musicians. For more information, please visit http://www.yca.org/.

Cailean was a loving, caring person with a contagious, mischievous smile and quirky sense of humor who will be missed tremendously. We ask that everyone that knew Cailean remember him fondly and smile when they think of ?Our Buddy? ? a unique and thoughtful young man. He was the best.

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7 comments

 No.1 
Mariel:

http://www.columbia-lyme.org/flatp/acknowl.html

This is a link to Dr. Brian Fallon’s Research Studies

May 21st, 2004 at 7:12 am
 No.2 
Mariel:

This is an email I sent out today to a bunch of Lymes Groups I had subscribed to
ChronicLyme@yahoogroups.com, lymeinfo@yahoogroups.com, mmi@mentalhealthandillness.com, LoveyOnLyme@yahoogroups.com, Lyme-aid@yahoogroups.com

Hi,
My name is Mariel and I’ve been a member of the
yahoogroup for Lyme a little longer than a year now.
I’ve never sent out a message, but I would read all of
yours and try to learn a little more about Lymes and
its affect on its victims.

My 17 year old brother Cailean Sheeran killed himself
last Wednesday. He was struggling with
neuropsychiatric Lymes for a long time. Last Monday
he also found out he two other tick-bourne diseases in
his system. He had just put back on high dose antibiotics a few weeks ago.

I write to all of you to ask that you take care of
yourselves. Cailean was delusional, paranoid, and
felt alone. None of you are alone in your fight, and
I understand that sometimes it really can feel that
way. This is a frustrating disease; Cailean was put
on and taken off antibiotics and the diagnosis was
being thrown around all over the place. Reading your
stories I’ve heard that many of your expeirences are
similar.

On Cailean’s behalf, all of our friends and family are
making donations to Dr. Fallon’s Neurological Lymes
Research as well as another charity, Young Concert
Artists, Inc because Cailean was an amazing guitar
player.

I’ve put together a tribute page for my brother, so if
any of you would like to get to know him here is the
link…

http://mariel.slowburn.net/cailean/

I wish you all well.
Mariel Sheeran

May 22nd, 2004 at 9:21 am
 No.3 
Kim Duford:

I normally do not have the time to read all the postings but just read yours.Please accept my deepest sympathy in the lossof your brother. What a tragedy to lose such a wonderful young man to this dreaded disease. Those of us who have lyme need to continue to fight somehow so the medical profession will listen. It broke my heart to read your story.and your brother will be in my thoughts and prayers. Kim

May 22nd, 2004 at 8:43 pm
 No.4 
Mariel:

This poem was sent to me by someone on one of the Lymes Groups

His Journey’s Just Begun

Don’t think of him as gone away–
His journey’s just begun,
life holds so many facets–
this earth is only one…

Just think of him as resting
from the sorrows and the tears
in a place of warmth and comfort
where there are no days and years.

Think how he must be wishing
that we could know today
how nothing but our sadness
can really pass away.

And think of him as living
in the hearts of those he touched..
for nothing loved is ever lost–
and he was loved so much.

May 26th, 2004 at 9:26 pm
 No.5 
mary ledford:

i wanted to send my deepest sympathy to you and your family. I am in my 30’s and i lost my mother 8 months ago suddenly to a massive heart attack. i understand how not only is the pain so great but the shock of it sent my mind into a crazed mental state. i first heard of your brother when my son came home from school and told me about what had happened. i was so scared because my husband was diagnosed with lymes disease a couple of months a agoand he has been suffering from panic attacks and anxiety. he is mildly paranoid and depressed. we thought it was happening at first because they mis diagnosed the lymes twice and he was rushed to the hospital because he thought he was having a heart attack. he than lived in a constant state of fear while they tested him for so many things as they said lymes mimics so many other diseases, etc. I always knew lymes disease was a horrible disease but i had no idea that it affected the brain and so many other major organs. when i heard about cailaen i brought my husband to see a psychiatrist to begin taking medication. the doctor talked to us about neuro-lymes and sent us in the right direction. Was cailean seeing dr. fallon or did you use a lymes specialist around here? i will pray for all of you . all i can do is take it one day at atime. the pain will never go away but it seems to be more bearable as the time goes on. god bless you all

June 4th, 2004 at 3:21 pm
 No.6 
Jim Ledford:

Hello, My wife posted a comment last night in regard to me having Neuro Lymes, or 3rd stage Lymes Disease which I was told has gotten into my central nervous system. I am having a very tough time with the anxiety/panic attack thing. This whole thing is very new to me and it is very depressing to say the least. I wanted to express my deepest sympathy to you and your family. I feel horrible about what has happen to Caileen. I can relate to his pain both mental, as well as the body. I hope to someday get back to where I was as a Father, a musician, and and just simply my old self, which has been taken away for the time being. If there is anything I can offer in the way of Guitar instruction to the Org. that you are affiliated with, please do not hesitate to ask. Again, I hope your family is doing well, and I am sorry for what has happened.

Sincerely,
Jim Ledford

June 5th, 2004 at 10:11 pm
 No.7 
Michael Lemyre:

I did not know Cailean but through his father, John. He is as an insightful, warm and sincere a person one could ever meet, and from the messages and pictures on this site it is clear that Cailean shared these traits. John also loved and cared for his son so much. An obvious thing to say however, many people do not mix the work and personal aspects of their lives but for John I think they are intertwinded – part of his being. And it was through ordinary, everyday conversations that these observations were made.

While Cailean’s passing is a tragic and painful loss for his family and friends, publishing this remembrance is a tremendous gain for all of us who did not know him or perhaps lost touch over the years. I can only imagine how hard this is for the family – all of you are brave and strong and hopefully will remain so forever to keep his memory alive. In my thoughts and prayers you will remain.

June 29th, 2004 at 12:26 pm

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