The mother of a Canberra boy, who died during a school activity at the base of Mount Ainslie in 2018, has told the ACT Coroner's Court his death was like "a light being turned off".
The court is hearing final submissions for the inquest into 17-year-old Adriaan Roodt's death, including questions about whether the event was adequately supervised, why there was no risk assessment completed on the day and what could be done to prevent anything similar from happening again.
Adriaan's family have also taken specific aim at the fact prosecutors decided not to lay work health and safety charges against the Education Directorate.
The inquest heard how Adriaan had been part of a large group of students from Campbell High School who had gone to an area known as Memorial Park at the base of Mount Ainslie to play a game called Capture the Flag.
The court was told the aim of the game was for players to run into the territory of the other side, to capture the flag, without being tagged.
Those who are tagged are put in "jail" where they sit out the game or wait until they are rescued.
The court heard, during the game, Adriaan and a number of his friends had been tagged and were sitting in "jail" when one of them decided to try to lift a heavy log nearby.
After several efforts involving several other boys, including Adriaan, the branch was lifted up but then let go because of the weight.
The coronial inquest heard Adriaan did not manage to jump out of the way quickly enough and was struck, suffering traumatic head injuries.
No teacher saw the accident.
Police later measured the log at six metres long and weighing 185 kilograms.
Accident a 'catalyst for change': Education Directorate
Counsel Assisting the Coroner Rebecca Curran told the court teachers had given a safety briefing and scanned the area, but there had been no risk assessment completed on the day.
Ms Curran said the inquest recommendations should look at issues including the guidance during the event, whether there was adequate supervision and what risk analysis should have been done.
Lawyers for the ACT said the Education Directorate considered the accident "a catalyst for change".
The inquest heard a task force was set up to provide clarity about arrangements for activities on school grounds and a permanent health and Physical Education Officer position established.
But lawyers for Adriaan's family told the court they were still struggling with the fact the Education Directorate was not charged over the safety breaches.
The court heard they were not out for vengeance, but rather did not want any other family to suffer the same loss they did.
Today, Adriaan's mother Sandra Roodt said there were not enough words in the dictionary to describe her loss.
"Adriaan was a ray of sunshine, brightening up the lives of everybody he had contact with," she said.
"We are still stumbling through the darkness trying to come to terms with our indescribable loss."
Ms Roodt told the court that it was "ironic" that her family had moved to Australia from South Africa specifically because they wanted their children "to grow up in a country where they could be safe and have a future".
"[We] never expected that we would send our child to school where he would sustain life-threatening injuries during a supervised outdoor education activity, and consequently die."
Coroner James Stewart will deliver his findings later this year.
