When Kimberly Stevens lost her son Ethan, everything changed…“It was like a hole had been scooped out of my chest. There was a physical empty feeling in there, like the wind would blow right through me if I didn’t have skin. I later realised it was the part of me that had left with Ethan.”

Ethan’s passing left a mark on Kimberly and her family that words could hardly reach. Watching helplessly as her child experienced pain and fear, and then holding him in his final moments, became the defining moment of her life.

From that place of heartbreak came something extraordinary: a new app called Kids Connecting Parents®, launched recently in Moranbah.

The app connects parents and carers who have experienced the loss of a child. It gives them a safe space to meet others walking a similar path, sometimes just around the corner, sometimes across the globe. It’s a lifeline Kimberly wished she’d had herself.

Six months after Ethan’s death, Kimberly returned to her job as a psychologist, but she quickly realised that her grief had reshaped her work forever.

“I wanted to help all parents across the world. I couldn’t fathom how many were feeling what I was feeling; helpless, empty, mentally and physically fatigued, and looking for someone who understood.”

But she also recognised she wasn’t ready to support others one on one. Her grief was still too raw. What she did know, however, was that she needed to talk to someone who had lived through the same thing, someone who understood without explanation.

“I needed to talk to parents who were living with child loss. I needed to know what life would look like in a month, a year, five years down the road.

“My life is now split in two: life before Ethan passed and life after. Two distinct pathways. One was whole and made sense, and the other will forever have a space where Ethan should be.”

That idea – of connecting with other parents living through the same kind of grief – became the foundation of what would eventually become Kids Connecting Parents®. Kimberly spent months trying to figure out what grieving parents might truly need that wasn’t already available.

“I knew it had to include immediate support, the option to choose who you connect with, and access to local networks of parents who had lost children. But I hadn’t figured out how to put it all together.”

Then, one day over lunch with a friend, something clicked.

“We were talking about how Facebook pages were really helpful but didn’t easily allow people to find each other locally and quickly. That’s when we talked about an app being able to do all those things; connect people locally, let them read personal profiles, and choose who they felt drawn to. I said, ‘I’m going to build an app’ and I haven’t looked back since.”

The name Kids Connecting Parents® carries deep meaning.

“In the grief world, parents usually say, ‘I’m sorry we are meeting this way, but I’m grateful to meet you’. We meet because of our children who have passed. So, it is our kids that connect us as parents.

“For those who believe their kids are still with us in some way, I hope their children guide them to connect with others they are meant to meet. I believe Ethan has done that for me.”

The app blends Kimberly’s lived experience with her background in psychology. She drew from established principles in trauma recovery and peer-led mental health support to shape the design and functionality.

“The benefits of lived experience are well documented. It is used in addiction recovery and suicide prevention, but it also applies here. Talking to someone who has experienced the same life event creates a deeper sense of connection and understanding. It reduces discomfort, helps us feel safe to share and gives us hope that healing is possible.”

That healing isn’t just emotional, it’s physical too.

“When we connect in a meaningful way, our immune system improves. Stress goes down. Endorphins are released. These connections really do make a difference to our health and wellbeing.”

The app allows parents to search locally or globally, read parent profiles and choose who they’d like to connect with. If they aren’t ready to engage, they can use the “Take a Break” feature, which hides their profile until they feel ready.

“You can simply be on there and see that you’re not alone. That alone can bring comfort.”

Kimberly understands hesitation, especially in the early stages of grief. It took her a full year before she was ready to sit face to face with another parent.

“There was this immediate understanding between us. It helped me open up emotionally about how I was really feeling. I wish I had the courage to do it sooner.”

Launching the app in Moranbah was a deliberate and deeply personal choice.

“This community has lovingly held us without expectation. The funding for the app was also launched here, and I wanted to say thank you. We launched the app at the Moranbah Miners Football Club. It was Ethan’s home away from home and it’s also where we held his funeral.”

The app’s development journey hasn’t been without hurdles. Kimberly knew nothing about app design when she started. But step by step, with patience and trust, the right people appeared.

One of the most emotional moments came early in the project when she met Graham Bradshaw, Director of Motion Curve. After just fifteen minutes of conversation, he said he wanted to help.

“I asked him why, and he simply said, ‘I have a son.’ That was it. That’s when I knew the app was really going to be built.”

Every step along the way, Kimberly felt Ethan’s presence.

“I asked Ethan for help and direction. Each time a new opportunity appeared, or a roadblock was cleared, I thanked him. I know he’s been with me through all of it.”

The very first time she saw a new parent dot appear on the app’s global map Kimberly felt a wave of relief.

“That was the moment I knew I had chosen the right path. Just seeing that first dot appear meant another parent had found a way to reach out. It made everything worth it.”

Grief, Kimberly says, is not something to fix. It’s something you learn to carry.

“Healing is about learning how to sit with your grief, lean into it, and build the emotional strength to carry it with you. We will always love our child so we learn to carry them with us into each new day. Some days it’s awfully heavy, and other days we can feel joy while still holding our grief.”

Her hope is that the Kids Connecting Parents® App becomes a lasting tool that helps parents walk with and carry their grief.

“I want this to be a place where parents can connect, heal and feel less alone. Not just now, but for years to come. Together, we can be stronger, and the ripples of healing will reach our families and communities.”

To learn more about Kids Connecting Parents® or to join the community, visit www.kidsconnectingparents.com