A family in Middlesbrough gathered to say goodbye to a beloved son and brother—but the funeral ended in another heartbreaking tragedy that no one could have ever imagined.
It started as a day of grief but turned into something far worse. The Beilicki-White family had come together to bury David Beilicki, a 41-year-old man who had faced his share of struggles but was trying to turn his life around.
David had battled drug addiction for years, but recently, things seemed to be improving. “He was doing so well,” one relative said softly. “He’d been clean for months. We really thought he was coming back to us.”
But on July 31, tragedy struck. David was found dead at a relative’s home. His death came on a date already painful for the family—exactly ten years after the memorial for his stillborn twin boys, Karson and Deacon. It was almost as if fate had chosen that day to reopen old wounds.
The family decided to hold his funeral on August 21 at St Bede’s Chapel in Teesside Crematorium. Dozens of relatives and friends gathered to say their final goodbyes, their faces heavy with sorrow.
As the pallbearers carried David’s coffin toward the chapel doors, something shocking happened. His father, Norman “Nosha” White, suddenly clutched his chest and collapsed.
“Dad!” someone shouted, rushing to his side. People screamed for help as others called for an ambulance. Paramedics arrived quickly and worked desperately to revive him.
But despite their efforts, the 61-year-old father couldn’t be saved. Norman died right there—just moments before he could say goodbye to his son.
Inside the chapel, unaware of what was happening outside, mourners continued the service. It wasn’t until later that many realized that two lives had been lost that day.
Afterward, David’s sister Chantelle spoke with tears streaming down her face.
“I think he must have died from a broken heart,” she said quietly. “Seeing his son’s coffin… seeing all of us together like that—it was just too much for him.”
Doctors sometimes call this condition ‘broken heart syndrome’, or stress-induced cardiomyopathy. According to the Mayo Clinic, it can happen when someone experiences extreme grief or emotional shock. It feels like a heart attack—with chest pain and shortness of breath—and while some recover, others, especially under overwhelming stress, do not survive.
For Norman, that unbearable grief became fatal.
A funeral notice shared by the family later confirmed Norman’s sudden passing. It described him as a “devoted father to Stephen, Chantelle, Marvin, Eron, Curtis, Nicole, and the late David,” and a “much-loved grandad, great-grandad, brother, uncle, and friend.”
His funeral was scheduled for September 18 at St Hilda’s Chapel, also at Teesside Crematorium, followed by burial at Acklam Cemetery.
Chantelle later shared a heartfelt message on social media, two days after her brother’s funeral. Her words captured both shock and sorrow:
“We lost our dad on the same day we buried David. He collapsed before he could see his son laid to rest. I think the pain was just too much. He was only 61, and he’d been in good health. Please—don’t take life for granted. Tell people you love them while you can.”
Her message resonated deeply with friends and strangers alike. People flooded the comments with condolences and messages of support, saying how sorry they were and how heartbreaking the story was.
A week later, Chantelle shared another tribute—this one recalling a powerful memory that showed just how much her father had loved her.
Years earlier, she had spent nearly nine weeks in the hospital battling Guillain-Barré syndrome, a rare illness that attacks the nerves. She had been unsure if she would survive.
“When I came home,” Chantelle wrote, “I saw Dad cry in front of the doctors. He asked them, ‘Is she going to make it?’ I’d never seen him like that before. He was always the strong one.”
She said it was one of only two times she had ever seen him cry. The second, she believed, was that fateful day at David’s funeral—just before his heart gave out.
“I’ll never forget how proud he was when I recovered,” she added. “He told everyone, ‘That’s my girl. She’s a fighter.’ Now I realize I got that strength from him.”
What was meant to be one farewell became two, and the family’s heartbreak doubled in an instant. But through their grief, Chantelle and her siblings continue to honor both men—the father who couldn’t bear to lose his son, and the son who had been trying to rebuild his life.
Together, their story became one of love, pain, and the powerful truth that sometimes, a heart really can break from sorrow.