Tragedy strikes close to home

The helicopter had been hovering near our house for some time on Monday night but I really didn’t give it much thought. I figured the police helicopter was doing some kind of routine patrol.

As I went to bed I switched on the radio to hear the 10:00 p.m. news. A young child was missing in a suburb near us. The police helicopter was using their spotlight to search the area backed up by officers on the ground.

I jumped out of bed to grab the street directory. I showed Pauline where the child was missing and she told me that a school friend of our son James lived in that area. We wondered if it was his younger brother that was missing.

Yesterday morning came the sad news that 18 month old Dut Dier had been found dead in a man made lake just a hundred metres from his home. It seems that he slipped out the door and headed straight for one of his favourite places.

Words can’t describe how the tragedy makes me feel as I think about what happened and what might have been but I know that that’s nothing comapred to the grief that the Dier family is feeling right now.

An article in The West says,

The Diers were refugees from Sudan and moved to Sydney four years ago. They moved to Perth last year because they thought there would be more work available and it would be a safer environment for the children.

How do you recover from something like that?

It was beautiful to hear James pray for the family and for his friend last night before he went to sleep. I’m sure that the Dier family will need a lot more prayer in the coming days and weeks.



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About the author

Rodney Olsen

Rodney is a husband, father, cyclist, blogger and podcaster from Perth Western Australia.

He previously worked in radio for about 25 years but these days he spends his time at Compassion Australia, working towards releasing children from poverty in Jesus' name.

The views he expresses here are his own.

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3 Comments

  • My heart goes out to the Dier family too, I especially watched the news to see what happened, it’s such a sad thing to happen and I can’t imagine how I would feel.
    Only faith will take one through this. Now my older kids understand when I keep saying they should lock the doors behind them, our fishpond gives me nightmares too and you know how busy Emberson Rd can be. Littlies have no sense of danger still.

    I love the new look Rodney.

  • Yes, it’s an extra reminder to hold our own kids just a little bit closer when we hug them and to let them know they are loved. We never know how long we have to share with those we love.

    Thanks for the comments on the blog’s new look too.

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