By Callum Ludwig
Despite the grief of losing their much-loved partner and father Sam Knight, Vicky Whillance and her daughter Hazel have felt immensely supported by the local community.
Within hours of the sad news being shared, a meal train had been set up, a support group started to check in daily on the pair, the GoFundMe to help financially support them, the announcement of Sell it for Sam at Yarra Valley Cycles and other offers of help came flooding in.
Vicky said the response has been incredible.
“Our lives are turned upside down. We’ve lost the person we loved immensely, he was such a loving and incredible partner, father, brother, uncle, son, friend and many more,” she said.
“The support has allowed me to focus on Hazel who is grieving and trying to process the huge loss of her daddy,”
“We’ve lost such a huge part of our family unit that we can never get back, you only get one dad and my heart breaks for Sam and Hazel that they miss out on such a special relationship.”
$44,436 has been raised for Sam’s family from 245 donations as of Friday 6 October.
Vicky said they also had a beautiful local death doula Steffi support their family in saying goodbye to Sam.
“She was incredible and helped create a safe space for us all to say goodbye to Sam in person,” she said.
“It’s very hard to navigate the situation of a toddler saying goodbye to their daddy and she made the process a beautiful one which involved Hazel picking flowers for him prior and then laying those flowers and toys on him and she was able to give him a kiss goodbye.”
The family had only lived in Warburton for three years prior to Sam’s death, but he was quick to embed himself in the community.
Vicky said if anyone asked for help Sam would be there.
“He was a much-loved tenant and business owner at YREC, was part of the Wednesday morning Yarra river swimming group, was involved in Upcycles where he volunteered to help with building work and also designed their logo, he would look forward to community dinners on Thursday nights at Koha or going mountain bike riding with local riders when he had the time, as well as running a few local Jigsaw Jumps sessions,” she said.
“Sam was a very kind-hearted thoughtful person, he was a very approachable gentle soul and always had time to talk or listen to anyone. He was creative, intelligent, passionate, adventurous and not one to sit on the sidelines,”
“If anyone had a fun idea, he would quickly find a way to make it possible.”
Many will have fond memories of Sam cruising up in his beloved 1977 red Subaru station wagon.
Vicky and Sam met online, briefly chatting before quickly setting up their first chance to meet in person; kayaking down the Yarra River.
Vicky said her favourite memories of Sam are of doing things together as a family.
“How his face would always light up so much when he saw Hazel, he was such a doting dad.
Special family outings, our bike rides together, him doing everything he could to make her have fun, taking her to skate park or to feed the ducks,” she said.
“He absolutely adored Hazel and would take her on bike rides to the playground or to feed the ducks, he would spend hours reading to her or flying her around the house or hanging her upside down upon her request,”
“They loved to sit by the river together where he would sing a song to her (my girl Hazel, my girl Hazel, sittin’ at the river with my girl Hazel) and they would throw rocks into the river.”
Sam and Hazel’s time together would never be short of imagination whether it be running around the house with Hazel aloft pretending to be birds flying or being ‘Big Bear’ and ‘Little Bear’ as they set out to fetch wood for the fire.
Anyone who would like to further financially support Vicky and Hazel can do so at: https://gofund.me/b003b0c7.
