There has been an emotional homecoming for two young children orphaned when their parents were killed in a car crash while the family was visiting India.
Bhavagna and Palvith’s parents died near Hyderabad in India in April, in a crash that left the children with serious injuries and needing several surgeries.
The family had travelled to the city from Adelaide to attend another family member’s funeral.
As the siblings, six and nine, recovered in hospital, they were initially kept in the dark about their parents’ deaths, before an Adelaide GP was forced to break the tragic news.
“To tell kids who believe that their mum and dad are alive in some other hospital that they are not there anymore is the most challenging thing,” Dr Sudeer Talari said.
“It was the toughest breaking bad news I had to do ever.”
A world away from home, their friends in Adelaide’s tight-knit Telugu community did what they could.
They raised more than $240,000 dollars and celebrated birthdays on FaceTime from afar.
Family friend Samuel Kaladari plans to adopt the children, acknowledging he can never fully fill the void.
“We can’t bring their parents back but definitely as a team of people we can guarantee we can provide the best for them what their parents intended in their life,” Kaladari said.
And they will be supported every step of the way.
“We are all a community, we want to stay together for the kids, take them to the movies, parties, get-togethers, sleep-overs,” friend Sri Chinta said.
Another friend, Saysha Chinta, said “I am feeling really happy and excited because I can be with them now forever”.
