Community’s incredible gesture to Irishman who passed away in Australia

A community in Australia has made an incredible gesture to an Irishman who passed away in the country after his family was unable to attend.

Michael Purcell, 88, was born in Ireland before emigrating to Bendigo, north of Melbourne, Australia, after a brief spell in England. He would spend the latter years of his life in Bendigo.

Mr Purcell passed away last year, but his funeral only took place last Sunday. However, few, if any, mourners were expected to attend, as his family was unable to travel from Ireland to Australia for their final goodbyes.

Botanical Funeral Homes, the directors of Mr Purcell’s funeral, put out an open invitation to anyone who may have been in the area to attend the funeral in Victoria. Facebook page CommunityPete did the same, and as a result, hundreds of mourners turned out for the funeral of a man they had never met, to ensure his final moments would not be alone.

‘Tomorrow morning, a semi-large group from the page is attending the funeral of Michael Purcell,’ the group wrote. ‘Michael has no family in Australia, and his family are from Ireland.

‘A local funeral director reached out to us on behalf of the family, requesting that people attend his funeral, as no one should be laid to rest alone. Well, this group is now filling up a chapel in the morning to farewell him.’

Thanking those who attended the funeral ahead of time, the page’s admin wrote: ‘This is absolutely an amazing thing. A group of strangers coming together to farewell someone we’ve never met, I can’t say I’ve ever heard of such a thing before, but this is just such a beautiful thing, and I’m so proud of all those giving up their time tomorrow to do such an amazing thing.’

Mr Purcell’s sister-in-law, Teresa, admitted that she was ‘very nervous’ attending the funeral of her brother-in-law in case she was the only mourner alongside her daughter — but thanked the strangers who attended.

‘I just thought that Terry and I would turn up and that would be it,’ she told 10 News +.

It was reported that Mr Purcell was born in Ireland, but emigrated to England, and then Australia — losing touch with his family, who only learned of his passing after reading a death notice.

His brother paid tribute to Mr Purcell after his death via video, while his sister-in-law said her heart felt full thanks to the kindness of strangers.

‘I feel it’s great that Michael has had such a send-off, and I think that the people here are wonderful,’ Ms Purcell said.

*This article was originally published on Extra.ie.