Joseph O'Sullivan dies in Bali while celebrating his 26th birthday
A West Midlands man has died in an unexplained motorcycle crash while celebrating his 26th birthday in Bali. Joseph O'Sullivan, from Coventry, had been living and working in Perth, Australia, for nearly two years. He died after travelling to the Indonesian island to visit friends.
His family say they are still waiting for answers about the circumstances surrounding his death and have yet to receive a police report. They remain unsure whether the incident happened on June 17 or 18. After speaking to a friend of Joseph’s who was in Bali, they were told he “died instantly”.
Family learns of death through Facebook post
Joseph’s cousin Susan Love has been trying to establish what happened and is now attempting to raise enough money to bring him home to the UK to be laid to rest. She believes Joseph had rented a bike on the island and, according to a friend, crashed into a pole and was killed on impact.
“Apparently he went into a traffic pole,” she said, adding that she does not believe anyone else was involved in the crash. Susan said of her cousin, who had been working as a roofer in Australia: “He was brilliant. He was a wicked lad. He was adventurous. He was experiencing life. That's what he was doing. He was out there grabbing it with both hands.”
The family say they first learned of his death when a message was posted on a Coventry Facebook page asking for contact details for Joseph’s relatives. Shortly afterwards, police got in touch with the news. “We got it through someone that knew him in Bali that went through to like the Coventry Live pages. ‘Does anyone know the family of…?’ And then I think it was about five hours later, the police came.”
Language barrier and distance complicate repatriation efforts
The long distance has made the ordeal particularly painful for the family. “It has been extremely hard because I'm trying my best to support his mum and try and get him home, and the language barrier is massive,” Susan says.
It has also complicated arrangements for his funeral. “I've just been on the phone to a funeral home now and they're going to help me the best they can,” she says. “I'm in touch with the hospital, trying to get a death certificate, but they're saying that they want someone to identify him, and we can't do that, obviously.”
Family contacts British Embassy for assistance
Susan says she is also in contact with Joseph’s friend in Bali to try to gather further details about the crash and coordinate arrangements, although the time difference has made communication difficult. Meanwhile, she has also been in contact with the British Embassy but says she is unsure what assistance they may be able to provide.
“I'm speaking to the Embassy. They've said they would be there if we need them, but I don't actually know what I can ask them,” she says. “I don't know who else I could possibly contact, to be honest.”
GoFundMe raises over £8,000 to bring Joseph home
Susan says the GoFundMe page was set up after the family were told repatriation costs alone could be around £6,000. “The minute the friend over there told us it would be like the best part of £6,000 just to get him from there to here,” she explained. “That's not including, I don't think, half of the charges.”
The response to the GoFundMe page has exceeded expectations, with £8,317 raised at the time of writing. “I think within two days we'd got £8,000,” she says. “I know we're going to have to pay funeral directors, the one here as well. And then it’s actually paying for a funeral. So I did put that at £12,000 and I'm just praying to God that that's going to be enough.”
Family remembers Joseph as a 'cheeky chappy' with a beautiful smile
Susan says bringing Joseph home would mean everything to the family, particularly his mother Veronica. “It means everything. Because if he doesn't get to come home, [Veronica] is never, ever gonna believe it,” Susan says. She says Joseph was a “cheeky chappy” who was always surrounded by friends and family.
“Joseph, you know, he had brothers, sisters, a few of each,” she says. “He had loads of friends, absolutely loads of friends, and he was loved by everyone that knew him, he was a little cheeky chappy. He had the most beautiful smiling eyes.”
“He was a handsome, handsome man. Yeah. Probably had an awful lot of girlfriends and all.”
