![\"Shannon](\"https:\/\/images.7news.com.au\/publication\/C-23019363\/9e083743500c1a42c53569ff6c67c2052ea962ba-16x9-x0y0w1280h720.jpg?imwidth=100&impolicy=sevennews_v2)
<\/picture>\u201cHe was one of my best friends,\u201d his sister Shantelle Royal told 7NEWS.com.au<\/span>.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t mean that in a cliche way, but generally me and Shannon were pretty damn close.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen we had no one, we had each other.\u201d<\/p>\n Shantelle said she had always felt protective of her older brother, who was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at a young age.<\/p>\n She described him as a strong person who had faced challenges throughout his life, and said their bond had remained close as they grew up.<\/p>\n The family eventually moved to Albury, with Shannon joining them a year or two later before settling in the area with his partner at the time.<\/p>\n Now, Shantelle says, the family including her siblings Tayla, 29, Cory, 34, and Renee, 26, is left trying to navigate life without him, while his two young children face growing up without their father.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re always going to have this big emptiness,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cI just thought of those beautiful kids that have to grow up without their father, who loved them so dearly.\u201d<\/p>\n Shantelle said police arrived at the home of her parents, Peter and Nicole Royal, hours after the stabbing, requesting to come inside.<\/p>\n Her mother knew something was seriously wrong, but did not initially understand the full extent of what had happened.<\/p>\n \u201cI think Dad understood straight away when the police were informing them,\u201d Shantelle recalled.<\/p>\n \u201cBut my mum refused to believe that.\u201d<\/p>\n Shantelle said her parents drove about an hour to the hospital from their home in Yarrawonga, arriving that morning.<\/p>\n The family\u2019s hopes were shattered when doctors first discussed flying Shannon to The Alfred Hospital in Melbourne for further treatment, before later telling them his brain damage was catastrophic and he would not recover.<\/p>\n \u201cThey told us it\u2019s not good, and that he won\u2019t wake up from all the damage that happened to his brain,\u201d Shantelle said.<\/p>\n For about a week, the family held on to hope while Shannon remained on life support.<\/p>\n \u201cWe all just prayed and still had as much hope as we could,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n The family made the heartbreaking decision to switch off Shannon\u2019s life support on October 4, with a murder investigation now underway.<\/p>\n Shantelle said the loss had left her family struggling with grief and the trauma of what happened to Shannon that night.<\/p>\n \u201cWe all have nightmares,\u201d she said. \u201cI dream about it most nights.\u201d<\/p>\n She said the family wanted answers about what had happened to Shannon and hoped an arrest would bring some measure of relief.<\/p>\n \u201cNothing could ever compare to Shannon\u2019s life,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cEven if they find the one who did it and they cop life in jail, that would still never compare to Shannon\u2019s life.<\/p>\n \u201cBut it will bring us a sense of closure … really the only relief we\u2019re going to be able to get from this situation.\u201d<\/p>\n The family has launched a GoFundMe appeal to help cover the costs of Shannon\u2019s funeral and to bring him home to be laid to rest where he grew up.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are no words to describe the heartbreak of losing someone we love so deeply, especially in such devastating circumstances,\u201d the fundraiser says.<\/p>\n \u201cShannon leaves behind two beautiful young children who should have had so many more years with their dad.<\/p>\n \u201cWe want to bring Shannon home to the place where he grew up, so he can be laid to rest surrounded by family, loved ones, and the place he once called home.\u201d<\/p>\n The family hopes to bring Shannon home to Riddells Creek for a final farewell surrounded by loved ones.<\/p>\n \u201cHis life was taken far too soon, and the pain of knowing how much life he had left to live is something our family will carry forever.\u201d<\/p>\n Shantelle said the family hoped any money left over from the fundraiser could go towards Shannon\u2019s two children.<\/p>\n They also hope to repair and sell a car Shannon had recently bought, with the money going to his kids.<\/p>\n She said the family wanted to support the children as they grew up and help keep their father\u2019s memory alive.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m godmother to one of them. It\u2019s my duty to, as these kids grow, help them with their faith and with life, and be there for them,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re so grateful to everyone who has donated, sent their condolences or reached out with love and support.<\/p>\n \u201cWhile nothing can make this better, the support has meant so much to our family and is helping ease the financial burden during this incredibly difficult time.\u201d<\/p>\n NSW Police established a crime scene at the address where Shannon was stabbed, with Murray River Police District detectives and the State Crime Command\u2019s Homicide Squad launching an investigation under Strike Force Metron.<\/p>\n In a renewed appeal on October 10, police urged anyone who was in the area at the time, or had information that could assist investigators, to come forward.<\/p>\n No arrests had been made over Shannon\u2019s death at the time of publication.<\/p>\n Investigators are particularly seeking CCTV, mobile phone or dashcam footage.<\/p>\n With no arrests made, Shantelle said the thought of the person responsible still being free added to the family\u2019s anguish.<\/p>\n \u201cWe as a family would also hate for any other family to go through something like this,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s a potential risk, too, while this person\u2019s still out free. They could do this to someone else\u2019s son, someone else\u2019s brother or even father.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt is pretty important for us to find whoever did it to be held accountable.\u201d<\/p>\n Anyone with information is urged to contact Murray River Police District or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The pain of knowing how much life he had left to live is something our family will carry forever A young father whose life support was switched off after he was stabbed has been identified, as his grieving family struggles to come to terms with his death. Shannon Royal, 28, was found with a stab…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1648,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_post_transparent":"default","_kad_post_title":"default","_kad_post_layout":"default","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"default","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"default","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1647","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alirthmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1647","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alirthmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alirthmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alirthmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alirthmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1647"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/alirthmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1647\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1654,"href":"https:\/\/alirthmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1647\/revisions\/1654"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alirthmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1648"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alirthmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1647"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alirthmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1647"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alirthmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1647"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\u2018We never thought he wasn\u2019t going to make it\u2019<\/h2>\n
![\"Shannon](\"https:\/\/images.7news.com.au\/publication\/C-23019363\/0c0f973f89e95de59be3125474dd6ae3c930f06b-16x9-x0y0w1280h720.jpg?imwidth=100&impolicy=sevennews_v2)
<\/picture>Family wants to bring Shannon home<\/h2>\n
![\"Shannon](\"https:\/\/images.7news.com.au\/publication\/C-23019363\/7378b8c5e3ccc59da54a9821c782dff129de21d2.jpg?imwidth=100&impolicy=sevennews_v2)
<\/picture>Police renew appeal for information<\/h2>\n