Our son, Jamie, aged 20, died on 24 September 2014 in a car crash; he
was the only person involved.
We came across TCF in the back of the Brake
Handbook, which the Police had given us about six weeks after Jamie
had died. I initially joined the forum which I found a real sanity
saver. The main point is that we were not alone, not going mad. All
the horrible things we felt were ‘normal’ for a bereaved parent.
Good advice from people
ranging from our own timeline to those weeks, months years ahead of us was
massively helpful - from the basic - just get through the next minute, next
hour etc ... to practical things like what might happen at an Inquest relating
to a Road Traffic Accident. The latter advice on Inquests meant we could
ask our Police FLO questions and thus were much better prepared than we might
have been.
About three months after Jamie died I moved
onto the Facebook Groups. I found these different - more immediate but
less detailed. Great to be able to talk to someone online at 2am! I
have made some good friends from these TCF groups and have met quite a few
people now in person.
I liken it to the reverse of having a
baby. When you have a baby you develop a network of friends who have
babies so you can share the experience, compare notes and support each
other. TCF does the same for bereaved parents - only other BP's can
understand the trauma and the pain so therefore are key to helping