DV victim’s kids still struggling to cope
IN a matter of minutes, Brock Bradford and his three siblings lost their entire world.
It’s been one year today since their mother, Teresa Bradford, was brutally murdered by their father, in their Pimpama home.
David Bradford had been released on bail just two weeks before he broke into his estranged wife’s house.
He had been in prison serving time for a violent attack on Teresa two months before her death.
The children, who range in age from nine to 18 years old, are still struggling to come to terms with the tragedy.
“People think when people pass away after a few short months it’s all better, but it’s really hard to deal with and get over,” Brock, 18, said.
“A year on I’m figuring out how to cope every day.”
Brock told the Bulletin the past year had been fraught with difficulties, trying to move forward without the support of his parents.
“It’s a very difficult situation to be put in,” he said.
The teen said he also worried how his siblings were coping.
Brock lives on the northern Gold Coast with his uncle and auntie, while his sister and two brothers live with their grandmother at Tweed Heads.
Brock sees Emily, 13, Hayden, 9, and Jacob, 16, every two weeks alongside his guardians, Narelle and Darren O’Brien.
“My sister plays with my cousins and my little brother (Hayden) plays with my cousins or he comes into my room and we play video games,” he said.
“I try to have a good time with them but I do miss them a lot.”
Brock left high school last year and is now looking to pursue a TAFE course in construction. He said he would love to help people going through similar situations and hoped stricter bail conditions would soon be imposed for domestic violence offenders.
“I found out ... others had been in a similar situations since (mum) and it’s killing me that it’s still happening to other people,” he said.
Teresa’s sister-in-law, Ms O’Brien, said it was frustrating no changes had been made to the domestic violence justice system.
“We haven’t been contacted by anybody,” she said.
“It’s just broken promises... we haven’t heard from (authorities) at all... It’s been a big disappointment.”
Ms O’Brien said the family was fighting for an investigation to be launched into the circumstances surrounding Teresa’s death and how authorities could have handled it better.
“So that we see what went wrong,” she said.
“What could have been done better... They failed her.”
The family will be holding a public candlelight vigil in memory of Teresa’s death tonight at the Damian Leeding Memorial Park in Oxenford.
“At the vigil we want to shine more of a light on the problem (of domestic violence) and bring it to the forefront,” she said.
The vigil will begin at 6.30pm. Attendees are encouraged to bring their own candles.
PEOPLE THINK WHEN PEOPLE PASS AWAY AFTER A FEW SHORT MONTHS IT’S ALL BETTER, BUT IT’S REALLY HARD TO DEAL WITH BROCK BRADFORD