Sometimes, a surviving child may have witnessed family members dying, either at the scene or in hospital. A child may themselves have serious injuries that will last a lifetime, such as brain injury or spinal injury, or have a surviving parent or sibling who has serious injuries.
Sometimes, a child’s entire family is wiped out and they are the sole survivor, meaning they are grieving and also facing the very difficult challenge of adjusting to a new life in a new home with new adult carers.
A sudden bereavement is very challenging for children and young people and can have a major impact on how they view the world, and shatter assumptions that they hold.