“It will never leave me”: When Ben Stokes’ mother lost her two children in a terrible tragedy

England allrounder and captain of the Test side, Ben Stokes, was announced the ICC Test cricketer of the year 2022 a few days ago. Averaging 36.25 with 180 runs under his belt, while scalping 26 wickets as well at an average of 31.19 the previous year does not really stand-out in terms of numbers for the holder of this prestigious award, but Stokes did more than just that while leading the side and pulled it out from the deep waters.

The ECB had sacked its coaching personnel and the director, and skipper Joe Root too resigned a few days later with the side struggling to notch-up wins in the format, which also included an Ashes drubbing as well.

However, alongside Brendon McCullum as the head coach, Stokes revived the English Test side and how. Adopting the ‘Bazball’ approach, which emerged to become the buzz word in the cricketing fraternity, the duo managed to rake up 9 wins out of 10 Tests under their leadership.

They began their journey with series victories against New Zealand, South Africa, a one-off Test match victory against India, and most recently a record-breaking clean sweep against Pakistan in Pakistan.

However, the Durham allrounder’s journey to reach where he is today, has not been a smooth one. Having been part of multiple controversies in the past, Stokes also became part of the headlines around three years ago, regarding a tragedy which had a lasting effect in her mother’s life.

Ben Stokes’ mother lost her two children in a terrible tragedy

In September 2019, a British tabloid newspaper, The Sun, published uncomfortable details of a crime on its front page which read – ‘Tragedy haunts Stokes’ family’.

The tragedy occurred in April 1988, three years before Ben Stokes’ birth in Christchurch, New Zealand. His mother Deb Stokes’ ex-husband John Dunn, 39, shot their two children – eight-year-old Tracey (daughter), and four-year-old Andrew (son), while they slept at his home in Christchurch as part of having their shared custody.

Moreover, Dunn then drove to Stokes’ property only to set it to fire after she had left for work, came back to his flat and shot himself as well.

It was later revealed that with the couple having split, a jobless Dunn was depressed with the access he had of his two children, while also having a gambling addiction.

As per reports, the reason he took such a huge step was because of his apparent anger and jealousy towards Deb for being involved in a relationship with Gerard Stokes – former Rugby coach and Ben Stokes’ biological father.