A survivor of the jumping castle tragedy in Tasmania says he questions why he “made it” when his classmates did not.
Six children died after the inflatable castle was lifted into the air during end-of-year celebrations on the oval of Hillcrest Primary School in December 2021.
Three others including Beau Medcraft were injured in the incident, which is the subject of a coronial inquest.
“Got to school, basically all happy, told mum that I was going to have the best day ever,” Beau told Triple J’s Hack.
“Got up to class and walked down to the oval with my class, jumped on the jumping castle and all of a sudden it just took off.”
Zane Mellor, Peter Dodt, Jalailah Jayne-Marie Jones, Addison Stewart, Jye Sheehan and Chace Harrison were remembered at anniversary commemorations in the tight-knit city of Devonport.
Beau, who is now aged 14, said he lost his best mate and keen gaming buddy, to whom he still sends messages on Xbox.
“He’d took off in the jumping castle and he landed somewhere else. I don’t know where he landed,” he told the youth broadcaster.
“I was wondering why I was here, and they weren’t and why I made it.
“I just didn’t want to be here because it didn’t feel right.”
Beau, whose arm was broken in the tragedy, said he was grateful for messages of support from around the world and tried to read them all.
Preparations for the inquest have been put on hold because of a dispute over documents held by WorkSafe Tasmania, which is conducting its own inquiry.
The workplace safety regulator has argued that providing documents to the coroner could impact its investigations and potential prosecutions.
A pre-inquest hearing was told the wind gust that lifted the castle into the air was like a “mini-tornado”.
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Kids Helpline 1800 55 1800 (for people aged 5 to 25)
– AAP
