BRIGHT blue eyes and a hearty laugh hide a series of devastating events that have worked their way into Raylene Swain's life story.

Losing a house in a fire four years ago was an incredible blow, but losing a child just shy of his first birthday was an even more devastating kind of grief that turned her world into a blur.

Baby Terry was 11-and- a-half months old when he passed away from fluid on the brain in 1971.

Doctors said the injury was caused from a knock to the head, but Mrs Swain was sure her son had not suffered a fall.

It wasn't until years later the cause of the injury was discovered.

"I found out 10 years after he died he fell out of a high chair at kindergarten but they never told me,” she said.

"There were no incident reports back then.”

Struggling to cope after the loss, Mrs Swain found it difficult to get out of bed.

"You just don't function, you can't function,” she said.

"You're going through the motions. You don't really know what's going on in the world.”

Mrs Swain tried gardening to deal with the grief at the recommendation of doctors.

But it wasn't until the adoption of her second son, Grant, after experiencing a series of miscarriages when life started to change.

"Once you've got another child to love it's just an immediate turnaround,” she said.

"You've got that love of a child; it's totally different to the love of another person.”

The family welcomed another arrival in 1975 through the birth of daughter Kathleen.

After losing Terry, doctors spoke to Mrs Swain about the pressure it could put on a relationship.

She believes the loss of her son was a contributing factor to the breakdown of her first marriage to Terry's father in 1981.

"Everybody handles stress differently,” she said.

"It's the disappointment in your life. Maybe one can't cope with how the other one's feeling.

"To this day I think there's only one person or one couple that I know of that have stayed together.”

Forty-six years later and the loss still weighs on her mind, as she visits the cemetery in Brisbane where Terry was laid to rest.

Mrs Swain credits the friends who stepped into the role of counsellors for allowing her to talk.

"Each person is different but you've got to have close friends to be able to show your feelings and cry if you want to,” she said.

A strong network of friends surrounds Mrs Swain, who also stepped up when she lost the home she shared with her second husband Graham.

The Warwick Weight Crunchers, Warwick Artist Group and Oak Tree Retirement Village collected household items to help the couple get back on their feet.

"I couldn't have gotten through without them,” she said.

Warmth radiates from Mrs Swain despite the challenges life has presented her with.

A swipe of lipstick and she was ready for a picture, with a beaming smile.