My first death story…

In December 2025 I was cleaning out a bag of papers from my high school and university days and after all this time, I found my first death story! It was a story I wrote in Yr 11 English. A story from my childhood about the first time I saw a dead body at age 10. A reflection of the experience written by my 16 year old self. A story set in 80's Melbourne when kids walked to school, saw a dead body on the road, went to school and we didn't talk about it again. Some of you might relate! 

“Today could have been like any other day. I got up my usual time, 7.30am and woke my brother. We both had our usual breakfast; Weetbix. I went and watched TV. Cartoon Connection was on - my favourite show. My brother left home at 8, which is rather early. He had to go on an excursion today.

I left home at about 8.40 to go to school which is late, school started at 9. We lived not too far from Holy Name Primary School but I was often late and I had been walking myself to school since I was 5.

To get to school, I had to walk down four side streets, then I would get to Plenty Road. Plenty Road was a very busy road with trams, especially at 9am. I would then walk a few meters to the traffic lights and cross the road. I wouldn’t dare cross the road anywhere else. After crossing the road, I would walk around 2 corners and then I would be at school.

Today however would be different to the rest.

I was walking towards Plenty Rd. Before I got to the corner, I could see police cars and an ambulance slowly stopping. I bolted to the corner to see what was happening. As I got there, I saw a group of police officers standing around something right near the traffic lights. As I got closer, a police man appeared suddenly in front of me. He said, “Do you want to use the traffic lights?” As he was saying this I caught a quick glimpse between his arm and his body. I saw what could only have been a dead body in the gutter. He was blue and his arms were all burnt and he had blood all over his face. His face look peaceful yet worried and face was a bit screwed up like he was thinking really hard. I felt a sense of loneliness for him.

I quickly answered the police man “Yes”.

“Are you going to school?” he said trying to distract me from the commotion behind him.

“Yes” I replied.

“Do you go to Holy Name around the corner?”

“Yes”

“Do you want me to walk to school?”

“No, it’s OK”

“I think I’d better. It looks like you’re going to be late”

“OK”

I couldn’t say much. I was dumbfounded. I had never seen anything like this before in my life. I felt like crying.

The officer walked me to school. He asked me a few questions about school and my friends. He deliberately avoided saying anything about the man.

As we were walking to school, I was in a totally different world. All I kept seeing, was this man’s face. It kept going through my head. I felt insane.

When we got to school, the Police man took me to the office and spoke to Mrs Tofts, the school secretary. They spoke quietly for a moment, he said goodbye to me and left. Mrs Tofts walked me to my classroom and explained to my teacher, Mrs McNamara. As I walked in, everyone was staring at me, I felt trapped. All I wanted to do was run out the door and run home.

All day I was really quiet. I told a few people what had happened. Some believed me and some were even jealous, others said I was lying. I didn’t care.

The day went slowly. I went home and told my mum what happened and she was shocked.

The next day I went to school the same way. When I got to the spot, I felt sad. You could see the marks of chalk on the gutter, little crosses and lines.

That night the Preston Post came. Mum was reading it and saw an article on the man that had been killed. It said that the man was working for the SEC and he was fixing the powerlines when he got electrocuted and fell from his ladder. He died instantly from the electrocution and from the head injuries he sustained from the fall from the ladder.

That night, the image of him lying in the gutter kept running through my brain. Even to this day, when I walk past those traffic lights, I can see his body lying there.

35 years later, whilst I forgot most of this detail, I can still remember the body, my sense of loneliness for him and more importantly the lack of communication and care in the time following. The silence, the confusion and hushed tones are an all too familiar tone of the 80’s and sometimes I wonder how far we have moved?

As I reflect now, I can see my feelings of loneliness for the dead and the silence following sudden death have repeated in my life.