Read this sad stories

Sam-

‘When I was in high school a boy from the school across the road died in a car accident on his way home from his final exam in Year 12. He was the oldest of five boys, school captain and rugby captain, and so full of potential. We all went to the funeral and his four brothers carried him down in the coffin to the song He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother.’

Jen-

“I will never forget the look on my mother's face when she looked down at my sister lying in her hospice bed days before she died. It slays me whenever I think of this ... the pain, the love, the grief all wrapped up in one microsecond of one minute in my sister’s too-short life.”

Kayla-

“I remember the day I held my pregnant friend's hand as the doctor explained that one of her twins had died but that as the twins shared a sac, and it was too early for the other twin to survive, she would need to terminate the pregnancy. Watching her struggle to swallow the pill to bring on a labour which would deliver her dead daughter, and kill her other healthy daughter was utterly heartbreaking.”

Mel-

“I was told my mum had died. My dad sat on the sofa and my brother and I sat either side, with my older, adult brother and sister standing in front of us. Dad started talking and then just broke down - entirely went to pieces in a way I'd never seen, nor suspected an adult would be capable of. I looked up at my sister who swallowed a sob and choked out the words, "Mum's gone to heaven." There was so much grief.”

Frankie-

“Watching my mother at my sister’s funeral. My mum is a tough lady, she is a strong, take-no-bullshit kind of woman, but I didn't even recognize the person she was that day. There was a cafeteria on the grounds of the cemetery. I could hear this noise, difficult to describe - not a howl, or a scream, just a noise. As I walked down the path to join my family, they all stood there with the strangest expressions on their faces.

My dad just pointed at the cafeteria; we walked in and the noise was coming from mum. She was sitting staring out of a window and this HORRIFIC noise was pouring out of her. She wasn't even moving, just staring and keening. The service was delayed by hours because her legs would barely carry her into the chapel. “

Jo-

“My dad is a very gentle kind of man, but I'd never, ever seen him cry. My folks came to Australia after becoming refugees during the Cypriot conflict, leaving their homes with only their passports as the authorities told them they'd be back the next day. They've never been allowed to return home to live however a few years back, the Turkish side opened the border, where you'd pay a fee and be able to enter for a few hours.

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He took me to see where they'd lived and it was pretty devastating but the worst part was walking a long winding, beautiful path full of prickly pears that led to the cemetery. All the graves had been desecrated, smashed to pieces with graffiti all over them. We spent an hour turning over gravestones till my father found his mother’s name.

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He ran over, touched it, let out a mighty, grieving howl and we just came together in this tight hug, and he just cried and cried on my shoulder. It was heartbreaking seeing someone who'd always put on a brave, cheerful face let it all go, but also really bonded us.”

Hannah-

“My most heartbreaking moment was when I sat with the father of a young Bali bombing victim in his front yard. He had just shown me his son's room and football trophies and as we pulled up chairs in the yard to talk the sun vanished and the summer air became wintery, icy cold. And we both burst into tears.”

Carly-

“I witnessed my partner’s grandfather pass away. He was always a builder and he went out holding an imaginary hammer "fixing" the side table next to his hospital bed.”

Naomi-

“Watching my husband at his dad's funeral was heartbreaking. He was so strong throughout all of the lead up. The other siblings were petrified of speaking, fearing they would break down and he was so supportive of them and really helped them. He had just become a dad himself, and he was being this 'MAN'. He was really trying to hold everyone together and take charge.

Then, at the service, the plan was that he would go first so that they would be able to take strength from him. If they lost it he would read their stuff too. Except, when the time came he stepped up to the podium and just sort of squeaked then crumpled. It was the first time he had really cried since it all happened and it was horrendous. “

Lisa-

“I interviewed a woman whose daughter went missing. She was 18 but had the mental capabilities of an 11 year old. To give her some independence, the family had recently allowed her to start walking up to the local shops on a Sunday, buy some lollies and come home again. Everyone knew her.

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They thought she was safe. Until, the day came when she didn't come home. Police flew into action, squad cars everywhere and helicopters circling. The mum knew her daughter was dead when the noise of the helicopters stopped. They found the girl's body under a freezer on a tip. Her friend's boyfriend had lured her back to his flat where he raped her.

When she struggled, he drowned her in the kitchen sink. And this is what gets me every time, 20 years later. The girl was terrified of water on her face. Couldn't have a shower, struggled to have her hair washed, had to have one of those face shields that babies wear to stop water getting in their eyes. So for her to die like that …”

Rachael-

‘I had a friend who killed herself in Year 12. At her funeral her father just sat playing his voicemail over and over of the last message she had left - it was just 'Hi Dad. Pick up bread. Love you.' but he couldn't stop listening to it.’

Ellen-

“Watching my 12 year-old niece say the eulogy at her 11 year-old brother’s funeral will stay with me forever ... Little trooper, she was the most composed person in the room. “

Beth-

“When I was at school, a girl was murdered by a serial killer less than 500 m from the school gates.

The funeral was held in the school hall and they played The Cure's Pictures of you. I can never hear that song without crying now. When we walked out at the end with her coffin and went down the street, the silence was unbelievable. Even the birds stopped.