The little boy making those precious sounds most days is seven-year-old Luke Dunn.  Four months ago Luke was injured in the school bus crash in which his older brother, Harry, died.  It was a crash that  injured another child, drew national media attention and devastated this community.

There are days when the accident on the notorious Kelso and Church Street intersection feels like it happened yesterday, other days when Harry’s family and friends feel as though they have been living with the tragedy their entire  lives.

Harry’s parents, Sarah and Dean Dunn have been living a roller coaster of emotions since.  Driving their determination to achieve the most simple of tasks, such as getting out of bed, are their memories of Harry.  He was an intelligent, caring, precious little boy who would not want his death to cost his siblings a happy childhood or his parents a productive and fulfilled life.

Sarah said she could easily stay in bed, never get up, but she has two other children who deserve a good mum.

“Harry wouldn’t want me to do that, I can hear him say ‘come on mum, get up, keep doing what you do’,” Sarah said.

Sarah and Dean, with Sarah’s parents, Gerry and Andrea Winter, and Dean’s parents, Terry and Julie Dunn, sat around the kitchen table in that Argyle Street home earlier this month  with The Singleton Argus.  It was time to talk and thank a community who had rallied around the entire family doing anything and everything they could to support them in the hours, days, weeks and months since that horrific day.

The family has strong connections to Singleton –Apex, NSW Fire Brigade, Lions Club, Triathlon club ,Soft-Cogs, Girl Guides, Singleton Striders, Soccer and the list goes on.

Then there are the aunts and uncles.... and the cousins – kids who spend every celebration together and too young to understand the finality or circumstances of Harry’s sudden death.  People from all walks of life closed ranks around the family, offered support, compassion and love. Sarah’s sister Lisa Thomas said that the support she and her girls received was overwhelming and immeasurable  and helped them greatly in dealing with the loss of their beloved nephew and cousin. Lisa and the extended Dunn family groups  wished to use this opportunity to say they are truly thankful for that support.

“We couldn’t possibly thank people individually, many people we don’t even know were there for all of us in so many different ways,” Sarah said.

Reflecting on the widespread impact Harry’s death has had, Sarah and Dean agree it is the circumstances of Harry’s death that has  struck a chord with many.

“It could have been any child on that bus, any child on any school bus anywhere, 

I think we are living every parent’s nightmare,” Sarah said.

“You could imagine this happening on a busy highway  but not on one of our town streets, three blocks from home.”

The family cannot praise the emergency services enough.  Like many  Sarah was at the accident scene amidst the chaos as parents, the broader school communities and residents  tried to take in what they had witnessed.  She could see the stress and overwhelming sadness  that struck even the most professional and experienced paramedics, fire fighters and police.

With her daughter Georgia on her hip and torn between the accident scene and staying with Harry, whom she knew she had lost and being airlifted with her youngest son who was soon headed  for John Hunter Hospital for emergency care, those  paramedics got Sarah to where she needed to be.  

From the moment the family arrived at John Hunter Hospital, staff were compassionate and protective sheltering them from the initial media throng, and ensuring that they were allowed to grieve in private.

Ronald McDonald House provided unanticipated and practical help.  They ensured the family ate even though food was the furthest thing from their minds.

There were no invasive questions, just actions.

They had access to a social worker who quietly spoke to them all, one-on-one.  Family members didn’t have to ask questions about what was happening with either Harry or Luke, they were just quietly told.  The family, although apart from this world as we know it, were under the same roof in an environment that understood the very difficult moments they were all living.

These days Gerry Winter throws $20 in the Ronald McDonald donation tin whenever he sees one and encourages others to spare some change.

As he says, you don’t know what this service provides until you experience it.

Dean, who was in the north of the state on a Camp Quality charity bike ride at the time of the accident but soon at his wife’s side, says the response from friends and Xstrata work colleagues was and continues to be amazing as does the actions of Singleton’s seriously social cycle group, Soft Cogs, of which both Sarah and Dean are a member.

“It has been more than just a response, it is not just the people who work closely with me, some don’t even know me and yet they still want to do something,” Dean said.