Mat Steinwede has opened up about the loss of his son Logan
One of Australia’s top real estate agents, Mat Steinwede, has posted a heartbreaking video in the wake of his 20-year-old son’s tragic death.
“I wake up in tears, and I go to bed in tears.”
Australia’s top real estate agent, Mat Steinwede, has spoken out after tragically losing his son Logan to suicide last week.
The 20-year-old was staying at his grandparents’ house on Sunday, with his uncle, Parental Guidance host, Dr Justin Coulson, revealing they found him on Monday morning.
Announcing the news in a devastating social media post, Dr Coulson said it was “too late to help” by the time the grandparents discovered what had happened.
“Too late to do anything except scream ‘No’. Too late for him to hear them as they cried his name over and over again: ‘Logan! Logan! Logan! Logan!’ ‘No, no, no, no, no!!!!’”
Now the young man’s father, Mr Steinwede, has taken to Instagram and posted a raw video to share his grief at losing Logan, who he described as “really loved.”
Logan was a budding surfer who had amassed almost 30,000 followers on Instagram and, on the surface, it looked like he was living the Australian dream.
Logan was sun-kissed, athletic and frequently posted about his family. He was the middle child of seven on Mr Steinwede’s side and had inherited two other siblings when his mother, Katrina Foran, married NRL great Kieran Foran.
“He was the best, I know every parent says this, but he was everyone’s favourite; all the siblings loved him the most because he was so fun,” Mr Steinwede told news.com.au.
He explained that his son’s love of surfing had always been a source of pride because he was “unpredictable” in the water and exciting to watch.
“You never knew what you’d get from him. His nature came across in everything,” he said.
Despite his son’s bright future and how deeply he loved him, Mr Steinwede said that he knew his boy found life hard.
“He found life very difficult. He just didn’t fit in a box. He had lots of energy, he loved things that were outdoors, that’s why surfing was such a focus and relief he could do it his way.”
Mr Steinwede explained that after school wrapped up his son struggled to figure out what he wanted to do with his life.
“He started drinking; he sort of didn’t find his way,” he said.
The real estate agent explained that he decided to post the video on Instagram because he didn’t want to post a photo with a whole bunch of words. After all, it wasn’t his or his son’s style.
Mr Steinwede broke down in tears while paying tribute to Logan and described him as someone with the best smile, known for being fun.
The heartbroken father said that when Logan was growing up they’d spent almost every day together surfing and training, and now he was left wondering what he should have done differently.
“Things got strained in the end; he wanted to do life his own way, and it was hard to watch,” he admitted through tears.
Mr Steinwede said that, while he understood that life has to continue and he wanted to be strong for his other children, he was waking up crying and going to bed crying as he tried to process the enormous loss.
“People say he’s happier now, but I think he could have been pretty happy here, too,” Mr Steinwede said.
Mr Steinwede said that he was always told there was a silver lining in everything that happens, but he didn’t see one this time.
“I wish I could have said I love you one more time,” he said.
Mr Steinwede said his son’s death is a complete tragedy but also speaks to a more significant issue of young men not talking about how they feel.
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“His older brother said if he’d just held on a little longer and let us know, we all would have done something. We would have done everything,” he said.
He said now all he could do was try and move through the grief and not let it swallow him.
“I have to turn this pain into purpose, and there’s no benefit, but our family is tighter than ever,” he said.
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