Jessica's Gift

Book excerpt: Mother of three, Susan Loch, had led a carefree life until 21 March 2011. Yet when she woke to find a policeman standing beside her husband, she immediately guessed the sickening truth. Her nineteen-year-old daughter, Jessica, had been killed. She was the latest victim of a treacherous stretch of the Princes Highway on the South Coast of New South Wales. Life, as Susan knew it, changed forever.Jessica's Gift is a candid and heartfelt story, charting how Susan grappled with each subsequent day. Initially, her grief felt intolerable and unending; Susan despaired, but she didn't give up. Yet, gradually, hope, peace and even joy crept back into her life. Susan's strength and resilience will inspire anyone who seeks to understand the traumatic experience of child bereavement.