Letter from the Editor: How do you deal with this loss?

Sadly it is something that you never get used to – being a bystander as other people cope with loss and tragedy.

I always say that the moment you no longer feel any empathy with them then you should give up as you’ve lost the connection with the readers you serve.

However, there are always some stories that you report on which affect you even more than most.

Every Glasgow Fair Friday brings back memories of the devastated families of the two Cumbernauld teenagers who died in a road accident.

Then there is the little girl, an only daughter, who fell off the couch, banged her head and died; the young dad who collapsed during a football match; and the young man who died in a road accident leaving his young brother an orphan following the death of their parents.

However, this week there are two reports which make you wonder at the strength of human beings to cope with terrible loss.

The parents of little Flo Jackson (2) were clinging to the hope that now the money had been raised, they would be able to take her to the United States for treatment. Sadly she died before they could make the journey.

And, well what can you say about Dennis Canavan’s tragedy? The loss of four children is incomprehensible.

Here is a man who, whatever your politics, you have to admit has devoted the majority of his life to helping others only for four of his five children to be taken too soon.

Our thoughts are with them all.