Ralph and Kathy Kelly may never get over the loss of their sons, Thomas and Stuart, but they’re determined to turn what they went through into a force for good | GoodWeekendMag
Ralph and Kathy Kelly may never get over the loss of their sons Thomas and Stuart but they’re determined to turn what they went through into a force for good.Kathy Kelly: ““I actually think that the longer it's been, the harder it has got."Very large text size
By the time Kathy and Ralph reached central Sydney, it was well past midnight. In William Street, the major thoroughfare leading east from the CBD, the footpaths were crowded with revellers walking towards the Cross. Traffic was gridlocked, so the couple took another route to St Vincent's in neighbouring Darlinghurst. As they parked the car, they were optimistic that everything would be okay. They imagined Thomas telling them jokingly that they shouldn't have bothered coming so far.
Some time after 3am, Kathy and Ralph were allowed into the intensive care unit to be with their son. Thomas's face was unmarked but his hair was red with blood. The words "No Bone" were written on a bandage on the left side of his head. This was where part of his skull had been removed to relieve pressure caused by the swelling of his brain. He was breathing with the help of a ventilator, and his eyes, which were open, were flat and lifeless.
Police told Kathy and Ralph that someone had walked up to their son and, without provocation, punched him in the head. The reason Thomas's face wasn't bruised was that he was taken completely by surprise and offered no resistance to the blow, falling straight back onto the footpath. The attack had not happened within view of a camera, and the assailant had disappeared into the crowd.
When the Kellys returned to Burradoo, a semi-rural enclave between the towns of Bowral and Moss Vale, they were swamped with sympathy. "Every man and his dog was coming to our door," Kathy says. "It was lovely but it was awful at the same time." For her, dealing with a procession of visitors bearing food and flowers was quite a helpful distraction but Ralph just wanted to be left alone. He retreated to his study, which had a view to the road at the front of the house.
For a while after Thomas was killed, Ralph completely lost his moorings. "I spent two months sitting in my study drinking wine," he says. "Night turned into day and day turned into night. I just couldn't cope." His friends tried to contact him but he didn't respond. "I just shut the world out. The only people I spoke to were the police.
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