Inconsolable Mom Unable to Deliver Eulogy at Funeral after Losing 5 Sons and 'Dad' Who Tried to Save Them

• A woman couldn't deliver her eulogy and was taken out of the funeral venue after her five children and their father died in a tragic incident.
• Her house caught fire a month prior while everyone was asleep.
• After escaping the blazing house, the mother tried to rush inside to rescue her kids, but her partner stopped her. What she saw next left her traumatized.

A heartbroken mother was unable to deliver an eulogy after her five children and husband died in a tragic incident. The 28-year-old mother from Russell Island, Australia, felt helpless as flames engulfed her house while her five kids were stuck inside.

Samantha Stephenson had to speak at her children's funeral on September 5, 2023, with her sister, Christina, but the emotional distress didn't allow her to do so. She was devastated after losing the people she loved the most.

Her older children, Harry, 10, and Zack, 11, were with her when she met her late husband, Wayne Godinet. The couple had four-year-old twins, Kyza and Koa, and a three-year-old son, Nick, while they were together.

Despite being a stepfather to two kids, Godinet loved all his children equally. His friends and family knew him as a doting dad who could do anything for his kids, but they had no idea that the man would prove his love for his children by sacrificing his life.

"A protector of his family, Wayne's commitment knew no bounds," Christina said about her late brother-in-law. Around 200 people were at the kids' funeral, and everyone was shocked at how last month's incident had turned Samantha's life upside down.

How Did the Woman's Five Children and Husband Lose Their Lives?

It was a quiet Sunday morning in the Russell Island neighborhood when Samantha's house caught fire. Inside the house were the woman's five children, her 34-year-old husband, and her 21-year-old sister.

The parents were sleeping on the ground floor, while the children and their aunt were sleeping on the first floor. At around 6 a.m., their house was engulfed by flames, and soon, the entire neighborhood woke up to see what had happened.

Samantha and Godinet made it out of the burning house while the woman's sister jumped from the first floor to save her life. However, none of the children came outside the house.

"Sam came running out of the house," a family friend, Peter MacLoughlin, recalled. "She was just screaming 'my children, my children,' I can never forget that."

Worried for her babies, the woman tried to rush inside the house, but Godinet stopped her. Instead of allowing her to go inside, the loving father entered the house and climbed up the stairs to rescue the five children. However, he never emerged out of the house with them.

The second story suddenly collapsed once the man went upstairs, trapping him and the children inside. Meanwhile, Samantha felt horrified as her hopes of seeing her partner and five children alive diminished with each passing minute.

As thick black smoke arose from the blazing house, the fire spread to the neighboring homes. Luckily, the residents had left their homes and weren't harmed by the fire.

While neighbors rushed to the blazing house to help extinguish the fire, the police were alerted about the tragic incident. Soon, the first responders arrived at the scene and extinguished the fire with the help of drones to get an aerial view of the residence.

Once the fire was extinguished, the first responders went inside and found the man's and his children's remains. The man's body was found with his arms wrapped around all five kids. The children's grandmother, Rebecca Stephenson, said:

"He died with his arms around all of the boys."

Rebecca said Godinet was "everything" for her daughter and her grandsons. She also said what happened was something no mother would ever want to live. It was a tragedy that had changed Samantha's life forever.

The Tragic Incident Had Affected Everyone

After the fire was extinguished, a group of investigators visited the incident site to find the cause of the fire. They believed it was "one of the worst fires" they had seen in a while and did not rule out foul play while investigating the cause of the fire.

Meanwhile, Samantha stayed at a hospital while she recovered from the emotional damage she had suffered. She wasn't physically injured, but the trauma of losing her entire family in a day had affected her severely.

Friends and family of the couple shared posts on social media remembering the doting father and his five children. One of Godinet's coworkers said:

"He was one of the sweetest and friendliest people I’ve ever met and very hardworking."

Meanwhile, Samantha's relative, Angela Stephenson, said Godinet was a hero. She thanked people for their condolences and said the family was "completely broken." An aunt of the five children, Emma-Lee Headrick, called her nephews and their father "beautiful souls" as she mourned her loss.

The deadly fire affected Samantha's family and left the close-knit community of Russell Island with lots of questions. As a result, the authorities set up support services for the residents after the incident, hoping it would help them cope better.

Here is another story about a 6th grader who overcame his fear and saved two people's lives in a single day in separate incidents.