THE day before Sean O’Reilly died, he told his friend he felt that someone was going to die in his unit block.
Mere hours later, he was found dead in a unit carport on Boundary Road on what would have been his 52nd birthday, June 20.
With no spouse or children, and his father in an aged-care home with dementia, the cost of the funeral has been left to his sister, Kim, who did not want her last name printed.
“It’s a financial burden hanging over us,” she said.
“With all that’s happened, what can you do?
“The only other option is to give him a pauper’s funeral and that’s not enough.”
Kim and Mr O’Reilly’s friend Sarah, last name withheld, are reaching out to the community to help fund a funeral and wake to remember the man who died suspiciously.
Mr O’Reilly left behind very little, according to his sister.
His Homes West unit, which he had been requesting to be relocated from for more than a year as he felt unsafe, was almost empty.
“We cleaned out his unit and he really didn’t have much at all,” Kim said.
“If someone could give us some sort of help that would be amazing.
“A funeral costs $7000 but anything would help us out.”
Kim’s son set up a Go Fund Me page for donations towards the funeral, which had already fundraised $250 in 12 hours.
But it’s still a long way from funding the Munja Gardens funeral which Kim wants for her brother.
Sarah also hopes the money will go far enough to pay for a wake at a local hall afterwards.
“He was liked by many people in Mandurah,” she said.
“We’d expect 60 people or so – too many for a house.
“I think because of the way he died, people will want to come together.
“Sean was like a brother to me and I want to do this for him.”
Sarah said she was one of the first people to find out Mr O’Reilly had died.
“Every morning he would ring, without fail, and say: ‘What you doing?’” she said.
“He didn’t ring that morning and that’s when we went around to Boundary Road to see what was wrong.
“It’s horrible what has happened; just horrible.
“He was a really sweet guy.
“The last thing he messaged me the night before was: ‘You know I love you OK’.”
To donate to Mr O’Reilly’s funeral go to gofundme.com/yapg3g