No one would wish what happened to Jugiong’s Polimeni family a year ago.
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Young Lui died after being injured playing rugby league for his beloved Gundagai Tigers.
The family will always carry a hole in their lives with them, but the community has rallied with them to keep the 15-year-old’s memory alive.
The Polimenis even found a positive among the tragedy – Lui gave the gift of life for six lucky people through the donation of his organs.
As well as this honourable act schools and sporting clubs in the region have ensured Lui’s legacy lives on through various awards and recognition.
Recently, his Harden school mates honoured their mate at their debuntante ball with each girl carrying a photo of Lui on their bouquets and entering the room to Lui’s favourite song – Sweet Child O’ Mine.
And Herd of Hope – a cattle drive bringing the country to the city for organ and tissue donation awareness – is planning to bring traffic on the Sydney Harbour Bridge to a standstill.
Lui’s mother Jenny is hoping the cattle drive will improve regional and rural support services for both transplant recipients and donor families.
The strong show of support from our community members is a great testament to what type of community we live in.
Last week we saw the worst in our community with a family’s gravestone being desecrated.
It’s easy to forget about the great things this community is capable of – especially coming together to chip in and help when others are in their darkest hours.
Whether that is cooking meals for a grieving family or volunteering for the nursing home, smaller communities seem to do humanity much better than our larger regional centres.
It may seem like a small gesture to some but it could mean the world to someone suffering through the grief of losing a loved one.
We unfortunately cannot avoid terrible things from happening in our community – they are a sad fact of life – but how we respond to these situations is within our control.
The communities of Harden, Jugiong and Gundagai can stand tall knowing they have allowed Lui to live on in the memories of our residents for a long time to come.
