A family has expressed their shock and heartbreak after a father passed away at his own son’s funeral.
Norman White, 61, collapsed as his son's coffin was being carried into St Bede's Chapel.
Norman's son, David Beilicki, had sadly passed away on July 31, 2025. He had worked hard on his sobriety after struggling with addiction.
David, 41, had been staying with his sister, Chantelle, and her family after attempting to get clean.
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Sadly, while he was making changes to his life, he was found dead on a relative’s sofa 10 years to the day after attending a memorial service for his stillborn twins, Karson and Deacon.
Chantelle shared that her children are ‘devastated’ about their uncle’s death, and now the family are struggling with the death of her father.
The 42-year-old mum-of-four said, as per Teesside Live: "It has been so traumatic, you wouldn't ever think of anything like this happening, you couldn't write it."
An investigation is ongoing and is looking into the cause of David’s death.
At his 21 August 2025 funeral, Norman collapsed, and emergency crews rushed him to a nearby hospital.
During David’s funeral service, Chantelle said she noticed something was wrong when she couldn’t see her father, noting: "When we got into the chapel and sat down, I looked around and said 'Where's my dad?'"
That’s when someone informed her what had happened.
Norman was accompanied to the hospital by his sister, while the rest of the family continued with the funeral.
Sadly, the family soon was told that Norman, a father to seven, had passed away.
Chantelle shared that her father had no history of heart conditions and believes his death was caused by the grief of losing his son.
She said he died as the result of a ‘broken heart’ and that seeing the family all together for the funeral may have been too much for him to bear.
She said: "I think he must have died from a broken heart. I think seeing all the family together like that must have been too much."
For the sister and daughter, it has been incredibly difficult to process the death of two people in such a short space of time.
Norman was well known for his love of boxing and was a 'popular and well-liked' figure in the community.
Chantelle said: "He was my dad and I idolised him."
She said that David, who was also dad to his adult son, Ethan, and Jaxon, nine, was loved by everyone.
She said: "He had a heart as big as the ocean. He is so missed."
The sister added: "My kids are devastated. The whole place just isn't the same without him."
Now, she is left grieving, as VT reported she admitted: "I think I’m still in shock, it hasn’t really hit me yet.”
As for Rose Funerals, Chantelle praised their professionalism on the day, stating: "They were fantastic throughout the traumatic event. Our family could not have got through that day without them. They were patient, caring and went through every emotion with us, all the time they were working to save my dad although they were traumatised too"
Norman’s funeral will take place on 18 September.
Britt Jones