When her three children were murdered by her husband last year, Karen Bell thought she would never survive the agony. Now she tells Glen Williams how love and joy are helping mend the sorrows of the past.
Karen Bell sits by a sunny window singing to her precious nine-week-old baby boy.
She drinks him in, not for a moment embarrassed by the tears of happiness that glisten in her eyes. Those same eyes have all too frequently shed tears of unimaginable sorrow.
The scene is one of sheer wonder. Karen Bell is a mum again – a role she was clearly born to play.
Karen knows this beautiful moment is totally surreal, something she could never have imagined a little more than a year ago. Back then, she was in the throes of fleeing a violent marriage. Back then, on June 22, 2008, her abusive and estranged husband, Gary Poxon, committed the most unspeakable act of cruelty.
He took their three children – Jack, then 8, Maddie, 7, and baby Bon, 16 months – and killed them by running two hoses into the cabin of his four-wheel drive, filling it with lethal carbon monoxide.
Gary also died alongside his children in the vehicle. Consumed by unrelenting grief, Karen told Woman’s Day she didn’t think she could ever love or trust a man again.
The thought of ever finding happiness? Completely impossible. There would be no coming back from this horror.
Then along came Dean Gray, the brother of Karen’s best friend. A big-hearted bloke of few words, Dean tenderly guided her through her saddest moments, showing her a kindness she’d rarely known. Their friendship became love, and their happiness spilled over into joy with the safe arrival of Connor Jack Gray at Bega Hospital in the early hours of September 25.
“We can’t stop kissing him,” Karen says softly, careful not to waken her little treasure. “We’re so happy. I’ve been really happy these past few months with Dean, and this just makes us complete.”
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