Greg Ireland aims to complete the bucket list his murdered daughter Chelsea never had the chance to finish
Chelsea Ireland was 19 when she and boyfriend Lukasz were murdered in the SA’s South-East. Now a bucket list found after she died is bringing solace to their grieving families.
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Greg Ireland has crossed the finish line in his mind, over and over again.
Each time he does it he feels relief, elation and pride … and he sees the face of his beautiful daughter, Chelsea.
Greg has never run a marathon but on November 3 this year, he will, in New York.
He’s running the famous event in honour of his youngest daughter who was shot dead in August, 2020, in one of the most incomprehensible crimes South Australia has ever seen.
Chelsea was just 19 when she and her boyfriend Lukasz were murdered by Lukasz’s father Pawel Klosowski after he flew into an alcohol-fuelled rage at a property near Millicent in the state’s South-East.
Klosowski pleaded guilty and is serving a 34-year jail term.
Running with Greg in New York is Magda Pearce.
Magda is Lukasz’s mother.
The two families have an unbreakable bond and while she’s never jogged more than 10 kilometres, she’s determined to be there for Greg.
They do almost everything together – Christmas and Easter, birthdays and anniversaries.
Last Friday would have been Lukasz’s 23rd birthday and the families marked it with a dinner.
In those difficult times, they find strength in each other.
Magda says she and her young son Ricky wouldn’t have survived the last 3 and a half years without Greg, wife Debra and daughter Maddie.
It’s a beautiful and deep friendship that’s grown from an act of pure evil.
“Every milestone, bad or good, we’re together,” Magda says.
“We’re very blessed, the bond we have, it’s nothing like anything I can explain, but it’s also such a bittersweet feeling.
“We wish we never had that bond if it meant our children were still here.”
When Chelsea Ireland was 11 years old, she made a poster with some of her bucket list dreams on it.
She wanted to climb Devil’s Peak at Quorn, swim with whale sharks at Ningaloo in Western Australia, fly to New York and run a marathon.
Greg and Debra found the list after she died; It’s the reason he’s signed up to run.
“As soon as I said ‘yes, I’m going to do that’ my whole outlook changed because I had something to look forward to,” he says.
“I’m equal parts absolutely excited and absolutely terrified.”
A quote that Greg found while looking for marathon merchandise, will be his motivation.
It says, “She believed she could, so she did.”
“It was as if Chelsea was speaking to me,” Greg says.
“But the one glaring problem is that she didn’t.
“So I’ve adopted a shortened version of the quote.
“She believed she could” and that will be my inspiration.
He knows it will be one of the most emotional days of his life.
“I’m pretty sure she’ll be with me the whole way,” he says.
“Just the thought of it is very emotional, it’ll be really, really hard,” Greg says.
Magda says she’s not there to beat any records, just to support Greg in honouring Chelsea.
Her husband Ash and son Ricky will join her, Debra and Maddie Ireland will be there too.
“The fact that we’re all going to be there is an achievement for our families,” she says.
“The children would be really proud of us. I definitely feel that we’ve got this.”
The pair will raise money for the Breakthrough Mental Health Research Foundation in the lead up to the big event, a cause close to Magda’s heart.
She began volunteering at the Foundation not long after Lukasz’s death, giving her a new focus when she needed it most.
Now she’s a key part of the team.
“Breakthrough empowered me in a way, it was my saving grace” Magda says.
“Three and a half years ago I was barely living, more like surviving and not looking forward to another day.
“I’m proud of how far I’ve come and I’m no longer just surviving.
“I am living, fighting and standing proud knowing that I’m helping to create a life free from mental illness.”
The Ireland family have come to know the work of Breakthrough, after attending several events with Magda.
“Everyone wants to give back and through Breakthrough we’ve been able to do that,” Greg says.
“It’s just absolutely amazing what they’re doing – they’re literally saving people’s lives and it’s a wonderful feeling to be part of that.”
Breakthrough CEO John Mannion will also tackle the marathon and says he’s inspired by Greg and Magda’s 42.2km mission.
“This is an incredible reflection of their love for their children and for their wish to ensure that their legacy lives on,” he says.
“Out of adversity they still want to make a difference to other people’s lives.
“We know doing something that’s bigger than ourselves is really good for our own mental health and wellbeing, so to have them both taking part in the New York marathon with Breakthrough will get us over the finish line too.”
Three and a half years on from the worst night of their lives, Magda, Greg and their families still feel intense grief and anguish every day.
They know that pain will never leave them, but in honouring the lives of Chelsea and Lukasz, they find some comfort.
Chelsea was a kind-hearted and clever mechanical engineering student with a strong sense of social justice and a passion for the environment.
Lukasz was a loving son and brother with an excellent sense of humour.
The couple had big dreams and great plans together.
In her sentencing remarks in 2021, Justice Anne Bampton spoke of the enormous impact the popular young couple had in their short lives.
“It is clear that Lukasz and Chelsea’s legacy is that they made the world a better place for their families and those whose lives they touched,” she said.
Now their legacy lives on, thanks to their extraordinary parents who choose kindness and compassion over evil, every day.
“I always want people to remember that the way they died was tragic and traumatic but their lives were the complete opposite,” Magda says.
“They led really happy lives and they had so much fun together.”
To support Greg and Magda, click here.
Jess Adamson is a director of the Breakthrough Mental Health Research Foundation.
Originally published as Greg Ireland aims to complete the bucket list his murdered daughter Chelsea never had the chance to finish
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