User blog comment:TheKimbler1/The Noobiest thing I Ever Did in Minecraft/@comment-28905095-20161031213036/@comment-31576424-20161101024006

I know, once something like that happens, it seems like you never quite get past it. Once in a different Survival world, I had been mining and collecting some really good stuff. Then I accidentally collapsed gravel over me and died. After respawning, I frantically ran through the cave, desparately searching for my lost items. Finally, I got back to the area where I died, and there my items were. As I approached my items, they disappeared right before my eyes.

Of course, the incidents in that story are not nearly as severe as yours. I can't imagine having so many destroyed chests with hundreds of items lying around!