Not a surprise. Last year I booked 8 of us on EasyJet for a holiday. The week before I phoned to tell them the my wife and I would not be flying as my mother had died - I acknowledged their no refunds policy but the lass on the phone said that in such circumstances they could exceptionally refund - and did so immediately.
No death certificate or anything required by them - I suppose it helped the believability that the other 6 were still flying.