When Shannon Hodgetts dropped a couple of copies of her book at her daughter’s old school as a thank you, she did not expect a movement.
The mother, who now lives in Perth, wrote One Breath at a Time after her son Rhys died suddenly in 2016, just before his third birthday.
He suffered a fever-related seizure and suffocated in his sleep.
“There were no resources out there that were suitable,” Hodgetts told Pulse.
“Everything was Americanised, everything was religious.”
“I just felt like I was on my own and I didn’t know what to do.”
The book is written for the people around grieving families, with practical ideas for supporting parents and siblings.
It also draws on interviews with social workers about children returning to school after a brother or sister dies.
Hodgetts gifted a copy to Norwood Primary School, where her daughter was a five-year-old student when Rhys died, then posted about it online.
Others offered to buy copies for their own schools.
Dozens of northern Tasmanian schools now have one, all funded by ordinary people.
“Some of the conversations I’ve had as I’ve dropped these books off, the reception lady’s like, ‘Oh, my daughter died 23 years ago, in an accident’,” she said.
“I had a cry with her… It’s so isolating.”
“Losing a child is so taboo and we don’t talk about it.”
“Breaking the stigma around child loss is the biggest mission.”
Hodgetts co-founded the Rally for Rhys Charitable Fund in 2018 with her husband Dean and her sister-in-law.
It has since raised $30,000 for a halo monument at Punchbowl Reserve.
The fund is now behind One Night, Good Humans at Country Club Tasmania on Saturday, November 21.
Hodgetts will appear alongside police officer Tom Moir, ultra-runner Matt Dingjan and Inherited Cancers Australia ambassador Lindi Bell.
The group call themselves Ripple Makers.
The night features short films and a live panel, then challenges the audience to do one deliberate act of kindness within 72 hours.
Surplus funds will go to the Rhys Hodgetts Education and Wellbeing Fund, which supports bereaved Tasmanian siblings up to age 25 with scholarships, counselling, sporting memberships and dance lessons.
Tickets are available here
