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“When one of your children dies, the pain never goes away. It stays there and you just have to learn to deal with it.”
Those are the words of Luke Sullivan’s father Wayne, from Minster, Sheppey, as he and his wife Tania mark the first anniversary of their son’s death.
The former paratrooper, 31, was fatally stabbed at a property in Rochester High Street on November 21, 2019.
Speaking about his son one year on from the tragedy, Wayne recalled his supportive nature and love for life.
The 59-year-old said: “Not only was he my best friend and my wife’s best friend, he was such a sociable person and he was devoted to his family.
“When my wife had a massive stroke in 2009, she was in hospital for seven months and had a brain operation, which left her very disabled and bed-bound for three years.
“Luke was brilliant in supporting us both.
“He was also absolutely supportive when my other son, Kye, had a breakdown. He developed schizophrenia and has been in hospital ever since.
“He wasn’t just my eldest son, he was an absolute diamond.
“He was a real soldier, he always respected people and he was full of life.”
Luke was born on the Island and went to school at both St Edward’s Primary in Sheerness and Minster College.
He left the comprehensive and joined the parachute regiment for a while, before going into security.
He moved to Rochester in 2015 with his wife Jade, who was a step-mum to his two sons.
“One thing Luke really loved was singing,” Wayne said.
“He sang in clubs, he loved karaoke, he even competed for The X Factor. He sang brilliantly.
“The tragic thing was, he didn’t really know what he wanted to do over the last four years.
“He then realised he wanted to be a professional singer and started singing in clubs and wine bars across the Medway Towns. He was spotted and was offered a job singing in Tenerife before he died.”
When asked how he was first told of Luke’s death, Wayne said: “I can remember it like it happened five minutes ago.
“I was at my sister’s house, also in Minster. I do landscape gardening and was re-doing her garden.
“I got a phone call and asked her to take it. She called down the garden to me and said the police were on the phone.
“The police officer said to me, ‘you have got to come home right now, Mr Sullivan’, and I could hear my wife screaming and crying in the background.
“There were a million thoughts going through my mind, but I never thought someone had died. I thought we may have had an intruder or something.
“I kept asking and asking what had happened. Then she said: ‘Your son Luke is deceased’.”
He added: “I went into complete shock after his death.
“We were devastated for many, many months and we still are now.
“When one of your children dies, the pain never goes away. It stays there and you just have to learn to deal with it.”
As well as the first anniversary of Luke’s death, Wayne and his wife Tania, 58, are also preparing themselves for the trial of the man accused of killing him, which is set to start at Maidstone Crown Court on Monday, December 7.
Dennis Jones, 35, of Rochester High Street, was charged with murder in June this year. He has pleaded not guilty.
“There’s nothing we can do to bring our lovely, beautiful boy back, we know that, and justice will never truly be done as true justice would only be getting Luke back,” Wayne said. “But we will not stop fighting until we know what happened.
“Luke was my very best friend and he loved his mum. We really loved our Luke.
“I know every parent says that, but he really was special to us.
“We feel that there’s a massive empty space in our lives. It’s a space that we could never fill because it’s a special, unique space that only Luke can fill.
“We feel that there’s a massive empty space in our lives. It’s a space that we could never fill because it’s a special, unique space that only Luke can fill."
“He wasn’t perfect, no-one is. But he was such a lovely, supporting person and he gave his all in whatever he endeavoured to do."
Wayne said the support he and his family had had from people over the past year had been “remarkable”.
He added: “Everyone who knew Luke has been in touch and have been just as devastated as us.”
In an outpouring of grief, hundreds of people took to social media to pay tribute to the popular paratrooper after he died, and floral tributes were left at the scene of the tragedy.
He was described as a “lovely guy” and a “fantastic dad” by his pals.
As well as his heartbroken parents and sons, Luke leaves behind two brothers Kye, 28, and Cameron, 24, and step-sisters Sheree, 27, and Nadia, 20.
