Losing someone you love is never easy. But for Luke, the shock of his dad dying so suddenly, and so early in Luke’s life, was especially difficult.
“I lost my dad when I was 21. I didn’t feel like there was much out there for young adults experiencing loss,” Luke told BBC News NI.
“That initial first year or two, I didn’t really know what was going on.
“I didn’t know what this thing called grief was, I just ignored it.”
It was not until Luke, then 25, lost his grandmother that he realised he had “not really processed” his dad’s death.
“That experience was a trigger to think back to what happened with my dad and think I don’t want to experience that again, so let me try and understand it a bit more,” he said.
Luke founded Too Young to Grieve, which offers young people who have experienced grief the opportunity to meet in person, with activities ranging from walks and hikes, to pottery painting and football tournaments.
“When you’re 18 to 35, you’re grieving someone that most people are going to turn to for a lot of the most important decisions in your life,” he said.
“You just want to talk about your person, or just have a space to talk about how you’re feeling.”
Luke said he would like to see resources around grief and coping with bereavement better signposted in schools and universities.
Last year, the Department for Education published statutory guidance, external that said lessons on loss, grieving and bereavement should take place in primary and secondary schools from September 2026.
However, no such guidance exists in Northern Ireland.
A spokesperson for the Department of Education said “schools have pastoral care policies and structures” so that children know who they can contact if they require support regarding bereavement.
“In terms of curriculum, the Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment has provided a range of resources which address grief, loss, and bereavement both at primary and post-primary level,” they said.
