Pastor Karl Sisson was in tears on Christmas Day. His nine-year-old son Josiah had just met a tragic death, killed when he got run over by a wayward car driven by an intoxicated motorist.
Josiah was viewing Christmas lights with his family in Springwood, south of Brisbane, on Sunday evening, when the accident happened, The Guardian reported. The errant vehicle first struck a parked car before running over the child, police said. Josiah was taken to hospital but died on Tuesday.
Just 24 hours after Josiah died of his injuries at the hospital, a totally unexpected heartbreaking scene unfolded: The pastor found himself hugging and forgiving the driver, 24-year-old Adrian Murray, the man accused of causing his son's death, according to The Guardian.
The driver has since been charged with operating a vehicle that caused death while being impeded by an intoxicating substance.
Despite the unimaginable grief in his heart over the loss of his son, Sisson did not hesitate in embracing Murray during a church service.
Pastor Peter Field, another pastor who is said to be a friend of the Sisson family, saw the dramatic scene and took pictures, which quickly went viral after he posted them online on Friday.
"What happened at the end of the service was that the driver along with his friends and some family turned around and saw the father of Josiah," Field told The Courier Mail.
"He collapsed into Karl's arms and he [Josiah's father] was brave enough and manly enough to catch him and treat him courteously," he added.
Field said he could not say whether he could show the same mercy as Sisson did if faced with a similar situation.
"It's very challenging personally when I see those [pictures], because it confronts me with whether I would be man enough and large-hearted enough to act with such mercy," Field told Guardian Australia. "I can say how 'we should do this, and we should do that', it's another thing to actually do it."
