CHAT SESSION 51 with Monique Story Briglia
Topic- Monique’s three promises to her beautiful baby boy.
Catch up and listen to our chat session https://megaphone.link/LCRUI6474314060
Monday 15th April 2024 1pm https://rppfm.com.au
Monique Story lives on the Mornington Peninsula and is the mother of 4 boys. She met an American called Andy Story after living in Connecticut for a few years. The couple moved back to Australia for their wedding and started a new life together in the Malvern / Glen Iris area. Andy and Mon were keen to have lots of children as they both came from large families. Mon wanted 4 boys since she was young. She was such a tomboy that she couldn’t imagine mothering a girl. Thanks to Andy and God her wish was granted. The couple had 4 adorable little boys within 6 years. Tripp, Hunter, Sid, and Quinn Story.
Andy and Mon bought their first home in Glen Iris and later bought a beach house in Rosebud on the Mornington Peninsula. Life was crazy and super busy moving between the 2 homes. Andy’s job involved a lot of travel and Monique was flat out with the boys. After their fourth son was born the couple agreed that they should move to the Peninsula permanently. They looked around the different towns and ended up buying land in the Martha Cove Marina in Safety beach. Monique moved the boys into the beach house whilst Andy stayed in Melbourne to sell their Glen Iris home.
The four boys are all highly intelligent, athletic, good looking and funny. They attracted attention everywhere they went with their cheeky personalities and white, blonde hair.
After 15 years together Andy and Monique broke up. They raised the boys in separate homes. Monique had to go back to work but always went above and beyond to keep the boys safe and happy. Her home continued to be full of kids as the boys were always keen to have extra friends stay over. She spent a huge amount of her time driving the boys and their friends to football training, game day and skate parks all over the Mornington Peninsula. Gymnastics, music gigs and sleep overs also kept her busy.
Two of the boys, Tripp and Sid went to Padua College and loved it. The other 2 only lasted a year each At Padua then moved over to Dromana Secondary. When Quinn was in year 8, his first year at Dromana, he had a great group of friends. They were always at our place, and I loved those boys so much. They all had big personalities, but Quinn’s would have stood out the most. If they had a sleepover at our place, they would hardly sleep at all, and you never knew what haircut your child would come home with as Quinn thought he was quite the barber. Sometimes he shaved his friend’s hair completely off!
On 10th August 2018 Quinn was at school lunch break with his group of friends when they all decided to go through the woods to investigate what was on the other side. They found a massive shed which turned out to be the Southeast Water Plant. There was a huge hole in the fence which they walked through, then found a ladder and decided to climb it. Quinny went up first, followed by Ethan. They ran to the end and started taking photos of the view. They were so happy and excited!! Cebby came up next and then Eli. Quinny turned around and called out “where did Cebby go?” Eli pointed to a sky light and said, “he went down there!”. The three boys ran to the sky light and looked down. Cebby was sprawled out on the ground with blood coming from his head. They heard him cry out once but then there was silence. Quinn screamed at the two boys on the ground to run back to school to get help. He then called 000 and asked for an ambulance. He explained what had happened and the ambos kept Quinn on the line to keep them informed.
Quinn sent me a message.
Mum I’m in really, really in deep shit.
We were mucking around, and my friend fell through this roof there’s no way to get into.
His head is bleeding.
And I don’t know if he’s dead.
I raced up to the school which was immediately put into lock down. Cebby was air lifted to the Royal Children’s Hospital. He wasn’t going to make it. That was the beginning of the end of his short life, and in moving forward, I had no idea what we were heading into.
Quinn’s happy and relaxed personality started to disappear after that day. As time went on, he started showing all the symptoms of PTSD. He was moody, depressed, distant, and unmotivated. He stopped progressing as a human being. He didn’t mature past his 14 years. He didn’t want to go to school, get a job, learn to drive, or socialise. All the sleep overs stopped, and he stayed in his room more and more.
He was taken to psychologists and psychiatrists, different therapists, and treatments for three years but in 2020 when the world went into lock down, we were limited with the help we could get for him.
On Friday 25th June 2021 Monique said goodbye to Quinny as she headed off to work. He was happy and radiating. Monique often took him with her to do jobs or work if she was worried about his mood but on this day, he was up and ready and was playing his guitar as if he didn’t have a worry in the world. As Monique passed him in the front room he said, “I LOVE YOU MUM”, with a big smile on his face. Monique never saw him alive again after that day.
The following Tuesday Monique was identifying his body in the morgue. Quinn was not home when she arrived home that afternoon. Quinn had three brothers, a dad and a stepdad who were constantly keeping an eye on him. No one knew where he was. The family contacted friends and the community to see who knew where he was. He was nowhere. Andy told Mon to contact the police. It had only been a few hours since he had been seen, but something wasn’t right. The police went out to look for Quinn, but he still hadn’t been found the following morning.
Monique received the worst call of her lifetime around 12 that day. The police wanted her to come home. They had found Quinn, but he wasn’t alive.
Quinn was found at the bottom of the Pillars. A fisherman could see a male lying in a cove but did not know if he was just sleeping or dead. He was lying next to his skate shoes and clothes as if he had fallen asleep. To this day we have no idea what happened to him. Mon has come up with her own conclusions for her own peace of mind and sanity and definitely believes that Quinn is finally at peace and in the spirit world where he belongs. He was too pure and sensitive for this earth.
Mon knew his life was a constant battle after that dreaded day. Puberty is hard enough for any normal teenager to cope with and he had so much more to deal with. Everything was a perfect storm waiting to happen.
Monique made her beautiful baby boy three promises when she knew he had left her. She would ‘look after his friends’ by starting a youth hangout in his honour called ‘Quinn’s Place’, write a book to share his story, and start his clothing range ‘Euralia’ which they talked about doing together.
Life will never be the same for Monique and her family, but they will continue to keep Quinny’s legacy alive as best they can, with their shattered hearts.
If you are looking for a youth hangout for teenagers on the Mornington Peninsula, check out QUINN’S PLACE and get involved!
QUINN's PLACE
Open Friday nights between 6.00 pm & 10.00 pm.
8 Drake Street, Mornington.
ALL WELCOME!!
Facebook QUINN’S PLACE
Instagram QUINN’SPLACE4THEYOUTH
Purchase QUINN’S STORY
My hope is that when you’re looking at yourself in the
‘The Daily Mirror’
YOU SMILE
EMBRACE BEING YOU
AND FIND 10 MINUTES IN YOUR DAY TO NOURISH YOUR SOUL!
To get in touch with Cathy email smileinthedailymirror@gmail.com
'The Daily Mirror' acknowledges Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as the Traditional Custodians of the land and acknowledges and pays respect to their Elders, past and present.