Updated
Photo: Bonnie Power says her son Jack, who died on Saturday, was destined for great things. (Supplied.)As he lay dying in the Royal Children’s Hospital on Saturday, the friends and family of Jack Power crowded around his bed and held hands, desperate now that medicine seemed unable to heal him.
Key points:
- Jack Power died after he was hit by a van in Blackburn, in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs, on Saturday
- His mother, Bonnie, has started a safety campaign urging people not to be distracted on the road
- Police are still investigating
The 10-year-old had been crossing a road in Blackburn, in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs, with his sister and a friend when he was struck by a white van.
Surgeons had removed a part of the 10-year-old’s skull in the hope it would relieve the pressure on his brain.
But as it continued to mount in Jack’s head, so did the grief in his mother’s chest.
As she arrived at the scene and saw a stranger performing CPR on her son, Bonnie Power was hopeful.
“Momentarily I thought, ‘It’s not Jack, they’ve made a mistake, thank goodness,'” she said.
“At no point did I ever think that we were going to lose Jack, not one point.”
Photo: The Power family donated Jack’s organs after he died. (Supplied)But in hospital, amid the monitors that refused to be silent, Ms Power was faced with an unavoidable truth.
“Jack was meant to do great things,” she said.
“I knew he was going to stand for something and I thought he wouldn’t want to be sitting like a vegetable for the next 20 years with tubes down his throat.
“He was trying all he could to pull through.
“And I said darling, you don’t have to pull through, if you don’t want to.
“This is now completely up to you if you want to let go, if you see a white light.”
A short time later, Jack died surrounded by those who loved him most.
His organs were donated to those most in need, but Ms Power said her son’s legacy lives beyond the lives he has saved.
“I didn’t know his greatest work was going to be done after his death,” she said.
In the midst of her grief, Ms Power has started a safety campaign calling on drivers not to be distracted on the road.
“It doesn’t matter if you’ve got a phone, doesn’t matter if you’ve had an argument with someone, doesn’t matter if you’re stressed about money, it doesn’t matter,” she said.
“Don’t just assume that you’re safely going to go from A to B.
“There could be a kid on the road … the light could turn red.”
Photo: Bonnie Power is urging drivers to be more vigilant on the road. (Supplied)No charges have been laid over Jack’s death and the driver was helping police with their enquiries.
Victoria Police said the investigation was ongoing.
But Ms Power has spared a thought for the driver of the van.
“He is going through his own hell,” she said.
“He’ll live through his own pain for the rest of his life.”
Topics: road, accidents, disasters-and-accidents, croydon-3136, blackburn-3130, melbourne-3000, vic
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