There’s absolutely no doubt Australia is still reeling from the horrific and tragic death of Stephanie Scott.
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And while no one can feel the agony endured by her fiance, family and friends, this pain has reverberated across every community in every part of the country.
It’s hard to understand why we feel such pain for the loss of someone we don’t know, someone we have never met.
But when something like this happens we feel shaken, sick and rattled to the core.
Partly because there is no answer, but perhaps because we all know or knew someone like Ms Scott.
And, on some level, we can relate to losing someone like her because she is, in some way, accessible to us all.
It’s been almost two weeks since Ms Scott was allegedly killed by Leeton High School cleaner Vincent Stanford and a week since her charred remains were found in the Cocoparra National Park, in country NSW.
She was due to be married the following day.
But instead, on the day of her wedding, women across Australia pinned their wedding gowns to their doors while 2000 mourners gathered in her hometown of Leeton as part of a yellow-themed memorial day.
Since then a yellow heart has symbolised the slain young woman’s life.
This weekend, young Gillieston Heights woman Courtney Sayer will release a bunch of yellow balloons in memory of the vibrant young woman she once knew and loved.
“I think everyone is just trying to get through this as a community,” Courtney told the Mercury.
“And I think in some way Stephanie would be very proud of all of this and she would feel extremely loved. But we have still lost a beautiful soul.”