The truth of the tragedy was stranger than fiction. An unforeseeable chain of events led up to it. A child’s missing ball, a ladder out of place, an adventurous 10-year old, and a police officer’s weapon brought home for the first time in five years.

On April 30, 2006, these elements implausibly merged and every cop’s worst nightmare became NYPD Police Officer Joseph Dunne’s wide-awake reality. While searching for a ball to play with, Tyler used a ladder not usually kept in the basement and found his dad’s .38 carefully hidden away on a closet shelf-top that the boy couldn’t normally reach. We lost Tyler Dunne that day.

That his family was devastated goes without saying. But they were also woefully and financially unprepared. What cop with young children has saved up for a child’s death? Joe Dunne’s fellow officers from the Midtown North Pct. had to take up a collection to pay for Tyler’s funeral.

That generosity was accompanied by another: The Dunne family donated Tyler’s vital organs to an organ bank, and six people who would not otherwise be are alive today because of that selfless act, and the family feels that Tyler lives on in each of these people.

But still they felt they hadn’t done enough. More good had to come from Tyler’s loss. But what else could they do?

The answer was The Tyler Dunne Foundation, a fundraising apparatus that offers “a helping hand for grieving families” that find themselves in the same tragic circumstances as the Dunnes. Officer Dunne, his brother Terry and Midtown North Pct. PBA Delegate Merritt Reilly are devoting their spare time to building up the fledgling organization.

Officer Dunne points out that while there were foundations for virtually every other need, there wasn’t one to support families that unexpectedly lose a child.

“Who has a burial plot for their kids? No one ever plans for that,” he said in a recent newspaper interview. “Our mission is to help families with hospital bills, funeral costs, counseling and loss of wages.”

The foundation survives entirely through donations. Scheduled fundraisers include a memorial ice hockey tournament starting May 21 and a black-tie cocktail party June 11 at Sequioa at Pier 17 at the South Street Seaport.

“He was always kidding and smiling,” his father recalls. “Nothing ever bothered him.”

The Dunne family is blessed with another child, Kerrilyn, 9, who is still adjusting to the death. She and Tyler were more than siblings — they were best friends. A day has yet to go by that Kerrilyn doesn’t cry over her loss.

If you would like to help other families dealing with the grief of a sudden loss of a child, send your tax-deductible donations to the address under the title of this story at the top of this page.