ABSTRACT On 22 August 2022, Olivia Pratt-Korbel, a nine-year-old English girl, was mistakenly shot by a masked gunman in Liverpool, U.K. Less than a week later at a football match played at the home ground of Liverpool Football Club, the whole crowd stood to its feet to applaud the life and memory of this local youngster. This was an incredibly moving and spiritual experience of connectedness and solidarity. This article, underpinned philosophically by both Buber’s ‘I-Thou’ and Heidegger’s Being-in-the-world considers how such a tragic experience might allow individuals to express unity through adversity, and how those invested in children’s spirituality might draw on the tools of identity, remembering and meaning-making in promoting inclusion and belonging. It is also suggested how educators might draw on difficult situations to inspire a pedagogy of hope, which allows for creativity and criticality, and ultimately, transformation.