What is the most tragic thing you've ever had to deal with

[GeraldGiraffe]

I've never suffered something tragic in the sense that someone close to me has died, but I've been on the fringes of tragic events in other people's lives which still had an effect on me.

One of my good friends from school's father died in the weeks prior to her 18th birthday. He was a farmer, and was examining the front end of a combine harvester when the clutch slipped. He didn't die instantly, but on the way to the hospital in the air ambulance. She was, understandably, devastated. Hundreds of people turned up for the funeral though, which I think gave her some comfort. She had initially cancelled her 18th birthday party, but we threw one for her anyway, which I hope helped. (pretty sure it did.)

Secondly, Another of my good friends from school suffered the insanely tragic loss of her younger brother, who literally dropped dead one day having been perfectly healthy. He had a rare sort of brain tumour. Again, from this it's clear to me that the people who are around you when you suffer a tragic loss are what is important - she was a very strong person, but I'm sure she was only made more capable to deal with her brother's death as a result of so many people being sad about it. Collective grief? I don't know.

It feels weird that I've never gone through anything like this personally, and I'm dreading it.