Heartbreaking discovery as Victorian father finds wife dead after night with painful symptom

When Victorian father Fa’auliuli Fa’auliuli, 35, woke and turned to his wife in bed on October 6, he “instantly” noticed that something was very wrong.

The mother-of-three Maria Fa’auliuli, 35, whom he was trying to wake up before church, had passed away in her sleep.

The night before she had complained to Fa’auliuli about a pain at the back of her head, but as she had experienced the pain before, she refused her husband’s offer to take her to hospital.

“Maria did not want to worry her three beautiful children,” Fa’auliuli’s colleague Jamil Mokbel said in a GoFundMe fundraising for Maria’s funeral. “It was another bout of pain she thought she could endure.”

It was sadly not the first time Fa’auliuli had made such a discovery.

When Fa’auliuli first arrived in Australia from New Zealand seven years ago, he stayed in the same bedroom as his 22-year-old cousin Soloa.

One day, when Fa’auliuli noticed Soloa still had not got out of bed at 11am, so he went to check on him and discovered his young cousin had also died in his sleep.

“Finding such a young and otherwise vibrant young man dead in his sleep due to heart failure was a devastating blow to Fa’auliuli and their close-knit family,” Mokbel said.

This is why Mokbel said the horrific realisation that his wife had died came to Fa’auliuli so quickly.

“He instantly noticed that something was very wrong. Fa’auliuli’s heart sunk deep into his stomach as he realised,” Mokbel said.

“For many people at the age of 35, this wouldn’t have registered so quickly.”

‘Fa’auliuli’s one wish’ thwarted

Fa’auliuli and Maria were married 13 years ago, and with their union each now had someone with whom to share their histories of loss.

They had both lost their mothers at the young ages of eight and nine. Fa’auliuli was just 21 when his father also died unexpectedly due to a stroke, and Maria additionally lost her father and sister last year.

“After Fa’auliuli and Maria got married, they were both overjoyed to give Maria’s father his first grandchildren. Finally, a blessing that could bring some much-needed light to their world,” Mokbel said.

After their first son, Fa’avae, 13, was born, the couple went on to have their 11-year-old daughter Sao, and their nine-year-old daughter Ulalia, before they moved to Australia to start a new life.

“Fa’auliuli’s one wish he kept close to his heart was for his children to have the sense of childhood he never had. Simply, he wanted his kids to grow up with both parents,” Mokbel said.

But now, Fa’auliuli has been left to raise their three children under circumstances painfully similar to those of his own childhood.

The day Maria died, a family friend invited Fa’auliuli and the kids to stay at their house.

“It has now been five days since Maria’s passing, and Fa’auliuli has not had the strength to return to his home to collect his belongings,” Mokbel said last Friday.

“Tears poured down his cheeks as his youngest child pleaded with him for her mother to have one more chance at life.”

But explaining to his kids the death of their mother was just the beginning of his difficult journey without Maria.

“Being the main provider with a young family, Fa’auliuli spent all his time working night shifts at a warehousing job, and they both spent weekends driving for Uber eats,” Mokbel said.

“Fa’auliuli and Maria put all their money into raising their children, like many others their age, thinking they had plenty of time to save for their retirement and future.

“Any donations are greatly appreciated and will go towards reducing the financial burden of a funeral on the family, allowing Fa’auliuli to start on the road to recovery while supporting his children as they grieve their mother.”