The family of teenage suicide victim Amy ‘Dolly’ Everett shared a powerful poem about a brave ‘cowgirl in heaven’ facing down bullies at her funeral service.
About 300 mourners gathered at a primary school in Katherine, in the Northern Territory, on Friday to goodbye to as the girl known to her loved ones as Dolly.
But one of the most moving messages for loved ones was a poem written for Dolly by her relative Hayley Maudsley which was printed inside the order of service.
‘They call me names / Before they see me ride / But with me on a horse / They all run and hide,’ Ms Maudsley wrote.
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‘I’m a cowgirl in heaven’: Amy ‘Dolly’ Everett was farewelled by about 300 mourners in Katherine, NT, on Friday afternoon – and the order of service contained a moving poem
The full text of the moving poem printed inside the order of service at Dolly’s funeral. Credit: Hayley Maudsley
‘She) loved her animals and cared so deeply for other people less fortunate than her’: Dolly’s father, Tick Everett, sister Meg and mother Kate read a statement to the media after the funeral
The poem continued: ‘They all try to look the same / all try to give themselves a name / Pick on the girl who is all alone / just because her identity is her own.’
‘All this wrong that people do / just for the image they want to / show down the evil path they seem to go’.
The poem concluded with a message of empowerment to bullies and their victims: ‘Your identity should be your own / A better person you will be known’.
Ms Maudsley said online that Dolly was her cousin’s daughter.
Friday’s service heard the Lord’s Prayer, poems and readings from family and friends.
Silver balloons were released into the sky as the song ‘I Wish I Was a Punk Rocker (With Flowers In My Hair)’ played.
Dolly’s body was cremated in a private ceremony before the service.
Following the memorial, Dolly’s father Tick Everett said his family would remember Dolly as ‘kind, gentle and loving’.
The poem was written in the order of service
‘(She) loved her animals and cared so deeply for other people less fortunate than her,’ he told a large crowd of media which had flown into town for the service.
He told how the couple had given their the nickname ‘Dolly’ after he arrived at hospital late for her birth.
‘Kate looked at me and said, “She is just like like a perfect little china doll’.
It was a devastated Mr Everett who took to Facebook earlier this week to suggest the people who relentlessly harassed his daughter should attend her memorial.
‘Please come to our service and witness the complete devastation you have created,’ Mr Everett wrote.
He was right, a mourner said – ‘everyone’ inside was in tears, but they were also coming together.
Family said Dolly’s mother, Kate, was holding her ashes during the press conference (right)
Silver balloons were released into the sky at the conclusion of Dolly Everett’s funeral service as ‘I Wish I Was A Punk Rocker’ played through the speakers
Hydrangeas, Dolly’s spurs, her hat and a pony club ribbon were displayed on an altar at the service at Casuarina St Primary School
Dolly’s family had invited the people who bullied and harassed their beloved daughter and sibling to come to the service to ‘witness the complete devastation you have created’
‘Everyone was crying inside – the songs they used, the lyrics made everyone cry,’ a mourner, 15, told Daily Mail Australia.
‘The kids that bullied her are from Warwick. I used to play sport with her. It was just so sad.’
The teenager’s death has become a battle cry against the horrors of bullying and the effects it has on mental health, particularly on young people.
Even Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull paid tribute this week, calling for a renewed effort to stop bullying.
‘Dolly, you are loved and you will never be forgotten,’ he said in a Facebook post.
DOLLY EVERETT’S FATHER IN MOVING FUNERAL TRIBUTE
Moving statement: Dolly’s father Tick
‘Thank you to everyone for the overwhelming love and support that the family received over the last few days.
‘We realise many people have travelled a long way to be with us today and we appreciate everyone who came along today to say farewell.
‘Farewell to our beautiful daughter and our beautiful little sister Dolly. We’d like to thank those people who couldn’t be with us today.
‘They are celebrating Dolly’s life in Toowoomba, Warwick and other parts of the country.
‘We also wish to thank the media for their – and the public – for their incredibly positive response to our efforts to raise awareness about bullying and the impact that it has on everybody’s lives.
‘As a family, we will remember Dolly as a kind, gentle and loving little girl who loved her animals and cared so deeply for other people less fortunate than her.
‘She was loved by so many and made friends with everyone she came across. Dolly saw the good in this world and the good in everybody she met.
‘We don’t want another family to go through what we are going through and our vision is to establish called Dolly’s Dream.
‘Through this trust we hope to raise awareness around bullying, anxiety, depression, and obviously youth suicide.
‘It won’t bring our Dolly back, but it may just prevent the loss of another young life.
‘It should not have taken the loss of a young life to drive this change but this is where our journey will start.
‘To all the parents – please check your children, talk to them, talk to them about their relationships, talk to them about their bullying, whichever way it might be happening.
‘Please just talk to your children and anybody else and remember, speak even if your voice shakes.
‘Stop bullying and be kind and do it for Dolly. Thank you.’
Meantime, the family have established a trust called ‘Dolly’s Dream’ dedicated to raising awareness around bullying, anxiety, depression and youth suicide.
They said they did not want anyone else to experience such ‘sadness and tragedy’.
Many of the mourners in attendance were already rallying around the trust – slapping bumper stickers on the car which read ‘#doitfordolly’.
The family said their daughter had gone to a ‘dark and scary place’ prior to her death.
Following her funeral, about a hundred of the families closest friends remained in the school yard hugging, crying and speaking to each other, a sea of blue.
Readers seeking support and information about suicide prevention can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14.