The father of a 12-year-old boy who narrowly survived Tasmania‘s jumping castle tragedy revealed his son is ‘so lucky’ to be alive, and had been thrown off the inflatable moments before disaster struck.
Beau Medcraft lost six of his Hillcrest Primary School classmates last week after a ‘mini-tornado’ swept the jumping castle into the air, with the children falling 10 metres to their deaths.
John Medcraft took to social media to share the details of his son’s fortunate escape and express his sorrow to the victims who weren’t so lucky.
‘My boy Beau was and is so lucky, he was on the jumping castle and thrown off,’ he said of Thursday’s tragedy,’ he said.
‘He’s bruised, busted and broken but he’s still with us. He’s more thinking of his mates he’s lost and all of them. He’s a tough kid.’
Beau attended the growing memorial for the six children on Sunday, armed with gaming controllers which he left as a tribute to his dead friends.
With both arms in casts and his shoulder in a sling, Beau placed four Xbox controllers among the sea of flowers and cards left by families and members of the local community.
He then broke down as he hugged his parents who embraced the young boy at the tribute.
The grandparents of the youngest victim of the tragedy lamented the life ‘taken away’.
Graham and Sharyn Deacon also attended the memorial on Sunday to farewell 11-year-old Addison Stewart.
‘Addison had such a great life ahead of her but that has been taken away,’ grandfather Mr Deacon said.
‘We are just so proud of her. She is a beautiful granddaughter, we have looked after her since she was a baby.’
The grandfather of Zane Mellor, 12, shared an emotional moment at the site of the tragedy on Sunday, embracing a tree before sitting and crying beneath it.
He walked into the grounds behind the memorial, with a counsellor telling the Daily Telegraph he was ‘looking for answers’.
‘I saw a granddad who was wanting some closure, he wanted to know,’ Tasmanian rural health counsellor Bradley Carter said.
‘It was lovely to be with him at that moment. He is not blaming anyone, he is just looking for answers.
‘He doesn’t want jumping castles banned but he just wants to make them safer so kids can enjoy it and know they will come home.’
The latest victim, Chace Harrison, died on Sunday morning at the Royal Hobart Hospital.
The 11-year-old became the sixth child to die, with her relatives saying it had completely destroyed their family.
‘It is just such a tough time,’ relative Karen Wallace said. ‘We don’t even want to celebrate Christmas.’
