By Mikayla van Loon
It’s 6am. You’ve just rolled over to turn your alarm off and as you go to put your head back on the pillow, the unthinkable happens.
The sound of a crack echoes through your ears and before you know it a tree falls through your bedroom, a metre or two more and it would be crushing you.
That is what Willow Swaneveld woke up to on Friday 29 October as more storms battered the Hills area.
“I jumped up and I looked out the window. When I saw the carnage that just occurred, my first thought was, I just lost both my parents this year. There’s no way my mum survived that,” she said.
“And then all of a sudden I got a phone call and her name popped up on my phone and I’ve never felt the feeling of relief that I did.”
Willow’s dad Jamin Swaneveld died earlier this year when his motorbike collided with a turning vehicle.
The news of the death of the beloved tattoo artist sent shockwaves throughout the community and saw everyone rally behind his family in a time of grief.
Now Willow’s family home in Cockatoo, which was pretty much built by her dad, has been completely decimated by the tree and will most likely have to be rebuilt.
The only room to survive was the tattoo studio holding Jamin’s ashes.
“It’s hard because we were just kind of settling down and accepting the fact that [dad was gone] and trying to rebuild as a family,” she said.
“Now not only do we have to rebuild our family but we’ve got to rebuild our home.”
Still unsure how she survived, Willow said the only way she could describe that morning was surreal.
“If you would have walked through the house and had a look at how everything was laid out, you would be baffled by how I’m sitting here talking to you right now.”
Although the insurance company has paid to house Willow, her mum and her brother for three weeks, after that they have nowhere else to go where they can be together.
But once more the community has stepped in, led by Adrian Whitling, to raise funds to help give the family somewhere to live for the next 12 months while the house is built.
As a client of Jamin’s, Adrian came to know the man behind the exterior over the last 12 years and his family as well.
“So over the many hours of tattooing, we had a few chats and just really got along well, and I just really enjoyed his company, even though he was 15 years older than me, I really admired him and looked up to him,” he said.
Having seen the devastation bestowed upon this family, Adrian said he just wanted to do any tiny thing he could to help support them.
“They’re such lovely people, just like he was, they really just do anything for anyone and the sadness I feel for them, it’s so great, so anything that I can do I try to do for them. It’s just a horrible situation that no one should have to go through.”
Hoping to raise $10,000 to put towards the rental of a unit somewhere, Adrian is calling on the community to give generously again.
“Think about how much you love your husband or dad or son or brother and how you would want people to react and support your family,” Adrian said.
“One of those things happening to someone in their lifetime is tragic. And both of those things happening to a family within nine months is ridiculous.”
Willow said she has been overwhelmed by the community support her family has received since her dad died.
“My support system and my family’s support system just humbles me, every single time something happens. Knowing that this year has been so full of uncertainty and tragedy, it’s heartwarming to feel that people care,” she said.
“I know a big part of that is the man that my dad was and I think if anything had happened under different circumstances we’d be in a very different situation. But the man that my dad was is projected through the kindness of other people.
“He’s gone but people still want to help and I think that has everything to do with how much of a gentleman he was.”
To donate to the fundraiser, head to GoFundMe and search ‘Tree tears apart house of grief stricken family’.
