Whilst Father’s Day is a day of love, treats, bonding and a celebration of the father figures in one’s life, there are fathers who have lost a piece of their heart through a missing child. What was once a time associated with joy and fond memories is now a dreaded day.
To mark Father’s Day this year, we are sharing a series of stories from children suffering from the ambiguous loss of their dads, and fathers with a missing child.
Today, we tell the story of Alan, whose son, Jack O’Sullivan, went missing from Bristol, Somerset, on 2nd March 2024.
Not knowing what has happened to Jack is less of an issue than not having him with us.
We are incredibly close and I suspect we spent an unusual amount of time with each other for a father and son given the fact I taught him at school, we played lots of golf together and I watched so much sport with him.
I miss him in so many ways.
I have two sons and thankfully do not just love them because they are my sons, I actually love spending time with them as people in themselves. Trying to be a good father is the most important thing I have done in my life and once you become a dad, you become responsible on a level way beyond anything else in life.
My memories of Jack are of a young man who is so kind and so determined to achieve. He is a person of strong convictions with great strength of character who is totally devoted to his family. So full of life and with so much ahead of him. I am lucky to have spent so much time with him so have a huge treasure of wonderful memories of time spent with him and as part of our family.
Father’s Day for me has gone from being a day full of fun where my sons would take me to golf while Catherine would wave us off and bake a great cake for when we got home, to being a day where my older son tries to make things okay, but things cannot be okay. There is a great big gaping hole in my life that prevents any real joy or celebration. It is now a day that we will all try and get through for the sake of our family.
Ongoing support is available specifically for families and friends who are worrying about a missing person or someone who has been found.
Get emotional support by emailing our Family Support Team, requesting a text back, or contacting them through a call or text on 116 000.
Sign up for emails highlighting missing appeals, information on how to share the appeals, and more information about our work. It is free to join and you can unsubscribe at any time. Find out more.