Looking after Holli and Kathy’s boys

On 30 December 2022, our beautiful sister and cousin, Holli Ann Deacon, was tragically taken from us far too soon at the young age of 39, when another vehicle allegedly entered her lane and collided with her vehicle.

Holli was on holiday with her family in Narooma at the time. It was a long awaited trip to a place they travelled yearly until interrupted by Covid, and was the first holiday in years for Holli’s mum, Kathy.

Holli was a single mum and leaves behind two sons, Marcus (18) and Eric (15), who were the love of her life and her life’s purpose - she thrived as their mother, and she raised them to become such polite, creative, smart and caring young men.

Sadly, the boys were also in the car at the time of the accident that took the life of their dearly loved mum.

The boys have suffered serious injury and needed to be airlifted to hospital in critical condition following the accident.

Eric remains in hospital, recovering from a broken femur and shattered pelvis. Marcus suffered a C5 neck injury, broken ribs & sternum and broken arm, thankfully he has since been discharged and between physiotherapy and rehabilitation, he tries to travel to the hospital regularly to spend time with his brother, so they can support each other while grieving the loss of their mum. Both of the boys have a long road to recovery ahead of them to address the physical and mental trauma thrown on to them at no fault of their own.

Marcus and Eric have already been through so much pain and hardship in their short lives after losing their baby sister, Destiny, to cancer when she was just 2 years old. It’s devastating that the boys have now had to bury their mother, who was only 39 years old.

Holli’s funeral was held on February 3rd. It was quite some time after the accident, as we needed to be sure that both of her sons would be able to attend - with Eric still in hospital, he was thankfully able to join us on the day, being brought to the graveside service in his hospital bed.

Holli was not only a single mum to her boys, but she was also the carer for her mother Kathy who required oxygen at all times and needed help with all day-to-day activities. Following Holli’s passing, her younger brother, James, had taken on the role of caring for Kathy.

In the week before Holli’s funeral, Kathy was taken to hospital and admitted to the Intensive Care unit as her health declined. But she was determined to get well so that she could make it to the funeral. From her hospital bed, she wrote Holli’s eulogy and decided on what dress her daughter would wear for her send-off; heart wrenching things that no mother should have to do, yet this was not the first time the family was faced with burying a child, and these were things that Holli also had to do for her own daughter. Kathy was discharged just days before the funeral was to take place.

The pain of losing Holli was too much for her heart to bear and sadly Kathy passed away on 16th February 2023, just 13 days after seeing her daughter be laid to rest.

Kathy had been a huge part of the boys lives, and in the past few weeks she was who they turned to for guidance and support on how to cope with losing their mum.

Holli’s brothers, Kane, James and Bill, are now also having to face losing their sister and their mother within weeks of each other, whilst trying to support and remain strong for their nephews who not only lost their baby sister, but have now lost their mother and grandmother in such short succession.

The emotional toll is huge for the boys, and physical recovery is going to take a lot of time and will require a lot of resources - it also involves a lot of uncertainty, which only adds to the worry that the boys are facing, whilst trying to come to terms with the fact that their lives are forever changed.

As Kathy was a disabled pensioner, she doesn’t have any assets that will be passed down, and it also means that the family now has to scramble for yet another funeral.

We are creating this GoFundMe on behalf of the boys in the hopes that we can raise a little money to help make Kathy’s funeral a beautiful send off to be reunited with her daughter and granddaughter and to try and remove some of the financial worry from the family, whilst they are allowed the time to grieve and rehabilitate their bodies, minds and spirits.

This has been such a difficult and life changing time for the family, who have faced so much tragedy in such a short time, losing the 2 most important women in their lives and our focus remains on trying to ease as much of the pain, suffering and worry that we can.

If you’re able to assist with a donation, we’d be eternally thankful. Every amount donated, no matter the amount, is so appreciated and will be contributed to Kathy’s funeral and to the surviving son’s of Kathy and Holli to assist them on their long road to recovery. If you’re unable to contribute financially, we’d be very grateful if you’re able to share our cause.

Donations can also be made directly to Kane’s bank account. Kane is managing funds for the family:

Police article about the accident:

https://www.police.nsw.gov.au/news/news_article?sq_content_src=%2BdXJsPWh0dHBzJTNBJTJGJTJGZWJpenByZC5wb2xpY2UubnN3Lmdvdi5hdSUyRm1lZGlhJTJGMTA1MDIxLmh0bWwmYWxsPTE%3D