Tania Clarence must have been very disturbed: iLIVE

The death of the Clarence children earlier this week is really tragic.

There are so many ways to look at what happened - but the act itself can only be seen as barbaric.

As a single mother having cared for my own healthy son from birth, I can relate to just how Tania Clarence must have felt – totally overwhelmed by the amount of care and time that she spent with those dear little souls who were all helpless in a lot of ways.

It has been said that she devoted the majority of her waking hours to looking after them. I know what it is like to be sleep-deprived.

A close friend recently said that she wishes she could go to sleep and never wake up - not that she was suicidal, but that she was dead tired and desperate for some shut-eye.

Imagine feeling like that and still having to care for three little toddlers, who are completely dependent on you every hour on the hour, (from what has been reported), knowing that it does not matter how much love them, cuddle them, care for them, medicate them, do for them... They are not expected to live a full, healthy and joyful life for much longer.

In her shoes, I would have felt like an 'empty vessel' – yes using our President’s words – but this vessel not making a lot of noise. A vessel full of pain and anguish - that nothing can give you hope or will fill the void that is inevitable.

Tania Clarence must have been so low in the depths of despair, that she convinced herself, that this was possibly an act of mercy for her children who were sentenced to death by spinal muscular atrophy, a severe genetic disorder which would limit their time on earth.

While alone with her babies, she probably spoke to them, telling them of her concerns or plans - the toddlers smiling and looking lovingly back into her eyes, not understanding that mummy was severely depressed and wasted inside.

She may have convinced herself that the only way out was euthanasia, then realising what she had done, tried to commit suicide, or maybe suicide was her intention all along.

I am not making excuses for Tania Clarence – for what she has done – but for a woman to feel that she has to take three lives then her own, she is severely disturbed.

She needs more than a dose of compassion and serotonin - maybe a huge dose of TLC, but who would want to comfort someone so heinous.

Her husband Gary and eldest daughter, plus their family may have survived, but they will never forget and constantly regret, that they did not pay enough attention to a woman who is said to have shown signs of strain.

Tania Clarence, having lived a quiet comfortable life with many complications, has now been thrust into the global spotlight – probably wishing that she had succeeded with her suicide attempt. She lives forever more with reprehensible knowledge that she killed her babies.