Loved ones gather to mourn father and children killed in house fire
Loved ones have gathered to remember the loving father and his five children who were killed in a house fire in Brisbane earlier this month.
Wayne Godinet, and his five children – Zac, 11, Harry, 10, Kyza, 4, Noah, 4, and Nicky, 3 – were killed in the deadly blaze on August 7th on Russell Island.
On Wednesday, family and friends travelled from interstate and from New Zealand to remember the five children and Wayne, who died trying to protect his kids.
"The actions of Wayne on that fateful day I think was indicative of the love he has for his children," a spokesperson for the family said at the memorial
"A lot of us really feel that he died a hero."
The children's mother, Samantha Stephenson, was unable to attend the service, leaving her sister Christina to step in to deliver a personal eulogy.
"If you could leave here with a message from our family today it would be to be grateful for your children's messy room, for taking your child to their soccer game, for chasing your kids around the park," she said.
Samantha has been left devastated by the tragedy, with family friend Simon Gordon telling Sunrise how dedicated she was as a mother.
“She was a loving mother to the children,” Gordon told Sunrise. “What she is going through is unbelievable.”
“Every time I ever met the family, the kids came first. They love the kids.”
Police are still working tirelessly to determine the cause of the devastating blaze, but said the fire is not being treated as suspicious.
Image credits: Nine