Three weeks ago Kathy Kelly stood in QEII Square and laid bare her soul, telling a captivated audience at the Albury-Wodonga Winter Solstice of the heartbreaking chain of events that a senseless act of unprovoked violence against her son set off.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Mrs Kelly's oldest son Thomas was killed in Kings Cross from a coward's attack in 2012, four years later her other son, Stuart, took his own life.
The anti-violence campaigner spoke of the "ripple effect" of Thomas' attack and how it "resulted in the death of our other son".
All this has come about, because Kieran Loveridge chose to carry out a needless attack on an innocent young man with his whole life in front of him.
Loveridge is now in jail, Thomas is dead and the Kellys have had their lives turned upside down.
You could hear a pin drop as Mrs Kelly detailed the devastation their family has experienced in the past seven years, saying the grief "never leaves you".
It's eerie to think that just over two weeks after Mrs Kelly told her family's story, little more than a stone's throw from where she stood on that freezing winter's night in central Albury, a similarly frightening attack on a young man would take place.
Will Young's life changed forever when he was kicked and punched by two men on Sunday morning, knocking him unconscious and resulting in bleeding to the young soccer player's brain.
RELATED:
His family is thankful that he's off life support but plans for study, work and travel have been put on hold for the "foreseeable future".
The Young family's willingness to speak out under such trying circumstances ought to be commended.
"We would like people to discuss this incident," the family said.
"Talk to your family, friends, neighbours, work colleagues. Bring it up at your social club or sporting club. We need to increase the message within the community that violence is not okay."
We owe it to them, and to Will, to carry out their request.
It's the least we can do.
Receive our daily newsletter straight to your inbox each morning from The Border Mail. Sign up here