A mother who tragically lost her daughter to drowning has revealed an unsettling yet heartwarming detail in a photo from her wedding ceremony.
Tahlia Murphy and her husband, Cecil, lost their 17-month-old daughter Taidyn Murphy, fondly called Totty, in September 2022 after she drowned in a jacuzzi at their home in Gracemere, in Queensland’s Rockhampton region.
Three months after losing her daughter, the grieving woman, who has three other children – Paityn, 12, Laikyn, 6, and Haivyn, 4 – got married to Cecil.
She revealed to Daily Mail Australia that the entire wedding ceremony was centered around Totty but she particularly holds one picture from the ceremony dear.
“Our whole day was for her, we had a big beautiful A3 picture of her, she had her own seat allocated and a bouquet done for her, our eldest daughter walked down the aisle with her ashes and some of her ashes were also put in my and my husband’s ring,” she told Daily Mail Australia.
Tahlia said she was so heartbroken that her daughter was not alive to witness the wedding until her friend spotted a small figure in one of their wedding photos.
In the picture of Tahlia and Cecil sharing a kiss on their wedding day, a shadowy figure can be seen hiding behind a tree in the background.
“One of my friends found it and they sent it to me with the figure circled and they said your baby girl was at your wedding day after all.
“I was laying in bed at the time and my friend had screenshot the picture and I was like ‘oh my god she was literally there’.
“I ran straight to my husband and we both had goosebumps and cried and said, ‘look it’s our Totty, looking on from behind a tree in a white dress.”
Tahlia, who was previously skeptical about the supernatural, said the picture confirms that her daughter was there at the wedding.
She further disclosed that the urn containing her daughter’s ashes is yellow and shaped like a butterfly, and everyday since she was cremated, they have been seeing yellow butterflies around the house.
“Without fail every day we have seen at least one and sometimes 10, 20 or even 50,” Tahlia said.
