Humanity’s worst and best in emotional week
Two stories brought me to tears last week. One typified the very best of humanity while the other was a glimpse of man at his absolute, rotten worst.
Words cannot adequately describe the cruelty and cowardice of a father who hunts down his own children and shoots them dead as they desperately cling to each other for support.
That’s precisely what John Edwards did last Thursday afternoon, arriving at the West Pennant Hills house in a rented car so the children would not see him coming and have a chance to flee the property.
“They were trying to hide in a bedroom and were huddled together when he opened fire,” a senior police officer said. “What a selfish coward.”
This wasn’t some psychotic break; John Edwards carefully plotted his children’s murder.
Police say the attack was “premeditated and planned”, with Edwards obtaining a firearms licence in 2017 and earlier this year purchasing the guns he would use to kill 15-year-old Jack and 13-yearold Jennifer.
Whether the killings were designed to punish his former wife, Olga, for leaving the marriage or to punish the children for shunning him we will never know because the gutless father killed himself before police could ask him.
He has not only extinguished two bright souls but has condemned their loved ones, particularly their mother, to a lifetime of grief.
One can hardly fathom the depths of Olga’s suffering or how she will cope with the heartbreak of losing both her children.
It is troubling that a man who was banned from seeing his own children after a bitter custody dispute and had violent incidents in his past was allowed to access firearms.
Australia has some of the toughest gun laws in the world but perhaps they need to be tougher.
Authorities should consider whether those seeking a firearms licence are involved in acrimonious divorces, child custody disputes or other legal proceedings.
In the aftermath of the horror there were thankfully no attempts to paint this monster as a “good bloke” or otherwise decent and doting father.
Frankly, I don’t care if he was depressed, lonely or in the midst of a midlife crisis; nothing justifies slaughtering innocent children and it’s fitting that Edwards will forever be defined by his horrific crimes.
The murders brought back memories of little Darcey Freeman, who was thrown to her death from the West Gate Bridge by father Arthur Freeman, and the harrowing triple drowning murder of brothers Jai, 10, Tyler, 7, and Bailey, 2 by shameless charlatan Robert Farquharson.
Of course it is not only men who murder their own children.
Only last week Akon Guode was attempting to appeal against her 26-year sentence for killing three of her children and attempting to kill a fourth.
These crimes can shake your faith in humanity but we must not lose sight of the fact that there is infinitely more good in the world than evil.
Just have a look at international efforts to rescue 12 boys, aged 11 to 16, and their young coach from a subterranean cave system in northern Thailand.
It’s difficult not to be inspired by the selfless sacrifice and heroic deeds of rescuers working tirelessly to ensure there’s a happy ending.
Sadly one hero who volunteered for the rescue mission perished last Friday.
The tragic death of experienced diver and former navy SEAL Saman Guana illustrates just what a gargantuan task it will be to teach 12 malnourished kids and their coach to dive their way to freedom.
It was hoped authorities could wait until the boys had regained their strength and improved their diving skills before an underwater evacuation took place.
However, persistent rainfall and falling oxygen levels in the cave have forced rescuers’ hands.
Yesterday, Thai authorities cleared the area around the Tham Luang cave complex as the final stage of the cave rescue got under way.
The group will have to dive, walk and crawl kilometres to the cave entrance, negotiating narrow passages where divers will have to remove their scuba tanks.
It sounds like an impossible task and yet hopes remain high among rescuers.
The saga has captured the hearts and minds of Aussies, with dread turning to jubilation and back to dread again.
The worst was feared until on day nine British divers Rick Stanton and John Volanthen found the Wild Boars soccer team alive and well.
But that joy was soon tempered by the knowledge of the enormous risks they still faced, including the cave system becoming fully inundated or collapsing.
As late as yesterday there were desperate searches under way for alternative routes into the cave system that could allow rescuers to extract the boys from above.
It has been heartening to see the boys’ parents come out in support of the 25-year-old coach, who must feel terribly guilty for the ordeal the group is enduring.
“I am so sorry to everyone,” Ekkapon Chantawongse wrote in a note to parents.
However the young man, who was orphaned when he was just 10, deserves praise for keeping the boys safe and calm.
The ordained monk has instructed the boys to meditate and stick together.
Australia, along with much of the world, waits with bated breath hoping that these boys are reunited with their families.