A family who was devastated by the loss of their 15-year-old has decided to look at the bright side when celebrating her life.
Theresa Matautia was 15 years old when she died by suicide in her native New Zealand in 2018. Of course, the loss was incredibly difficult for the family. They knew, however, that they wanted to remember Theresa for her vibrance in life and not for the manner in which her life ended.
It's for that reason that they decided on a truly unique headstone for the teen. They had a model of Theresa's iPhone 5 created as part of her headstone, and it's garnered a lot of attention at the Manukau Memorial Gardens.
Note: If you or any of your loved ones are struggling with suicidal thoughts, you can always reach out to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline by calling 1-800-273-8255. They are available 24/7 by phone or online chat.
Theresa Matautia's family has tried to make the best out of the tragedy of her death. They've looked for ways to celebrate her life since the 15-year-old died by suicide in 2018. Uncle Demetrius Savelio turned to music to grapple with his niece's death, writing a suicide prevention song under his hip-hop persona, Savage.
"My niece was such a charismatic and bubbly, big-smiling, young, beautiful teenage girl," he told Stuff.
"None of us expected that especially from her … It really devastated my family."
Theresa was one of three teen girls in her neighborhood to die by suicide in the same week.
It was especially devastating for her four siblings. Yet the immediate family also chooses to remember the light in Theresa, with her brother Geoff making TikToks about her headstone at her gravesite.
"Gen Z headstones if you see this at the Manukau Memorial Gardens, it was us ," he captioned a video showing Theresa's headstone, featuring a giant replica of an iPhone 5.
"The reason behind it is my sister was just on the phone, all the time," he said in a follow-up video that has since been deleted.
"She would always document everything and make these vlogs to post them on her Instagram."
Some commenters felt it was tasteless for the family to reduce the teen's life to her cellphone usage, saying the headstone was ultimately in poor taste. Others felt bad for finding it funny.
"For everyone having a cry in the comments: just have a laugh," Geoff said in the video.
"We give you permission to laugh at this video. Not everyone copes with loss the same, so our family is just doing it a different way. It's almost been four years, and my family just learned how to deal with it."
The iPhone depicted on her gravestone features a group text of the immediate family members on the screen. They share messages of love and remembrance.
"Bad situation, but love how you're dealing with it!" one commenter wrote.
"She would love that, and 50 years from now, her grave will be extremely cool because of the history."
