And, you know, that headline sounds faintly reminiscent of an email I wrote well over a year ago which started “I’ve never written a message like this before…” It told the plight of my second son, third child, Jeremy, who was severely physically disabled and had been totally flooded out in the huge Lismore floods. He was left with nothing but the clothes he was wearing.

With the support of local community services Jeremy was found temporary accommodation and after a month or two he was able to move into a house and, thanks to the generosity of people like you, was able to furnish it with the necessaries and re-establish his life. He was able to provide a home for his two teenage children and life continued to improve. With a very caring team around him, he recovered his health slowly and he was looking forward to finding employment that might suit him.

As his parents, Lauris and I, we were thrilled to see the improvement in him, and his outlook on life, and looked forward to visiting and staying with him and our two grandchildren.

All that came crashing down on us a few days ago.

Jeremy was found in bed not breathing and was unable to be revived.

Whilst we await the Coroner’s report… and the ability to bury our Jeremy, son, brother and father… it appears he had vomited and choked on it.

No words can describe how we all feel… when things were at last going so well for him we ask why it had to end so abruptly. No one can give us answers but we can be thankful for the good times and great memories he has left to comfort us.

Please forgive me for sharing this but I felt I must let you know because of the part you played in his life.

With heavy heart… Winno