Jumping castle victim's heartfelt video as $1.4m GoFundMe to shut down
One of the survivors of the horrific jumping castle tragedy that has rocked the town of Devonport in Tasmania has sent a message to his supporters.
Beau Medcraft, 12, broke both arms and shattered his wrist when a gust of wind sent the jumping castle soaring 10 metres in the air at Hillcrest Primary School.
He was one of nine students injured in the freak accident on their last day of school. Sadly, six of his friends lost their lives.
Addison Stewart and Chace Harrison, both 11, and Zane Mellor, Jye Sheehan, Jalailah Jayne-Maree Jones and Peter Dodt, all 12, died from their injuries. Two others remain in hospital.
In a video sent to Australian country-rock musician Casey Barnes, Beau expressed his thanks to the wider community for their get-well messages.
Seated on a couch and wearing Casey’s merchandise, both of Beau’s arms are in plaster and his right arm is in a sling.
“Thanks for all the support and all the awesome people that commented,” he said.
"I watched your video again and thought it was very nice.”
Casey’s social media pages were flooded with hundreds of comments, wishing Beau a speedy recovery.
“I know it's hard right now but things will get better,” one person wrote.
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“Love and a million wishes for a speedy recovery Beau. All of Tassie is behind you,” another said.
Casey, who grew up in Tasmania and went to college in Devonport, promised to organise “something special” for Beau and his family in the new year.
Big change to $1.4m fundraiser
Beau’s video comes as the fundraiser for the affected families nudges $1.4 million just four days after the tragedy.
But the GoFundMe page is due to be shut down as the money is rolled into a new public fund coordinated by Devonport Council and the Tasmanian Government.
The aim of this is to ensure transparency over the funds raised, councillor Alison Jarmin said at Monday’s council meeting, according to The Mercury.
“I know there’s some angst about what is going to happen to these funds and how they are going to be administered,” Cr Jarmin said.
“We going to be making sure it goes to the right places and goes to the families and doesn’t get lost in governance and bureaucracy.”
The creator of the GoFundMe page, Devonport local Zoe Smith, said she was in awe of the generosity of the Australian public.
"It's just beyond anything we could have thought possible," she told reporters on Saturday.
"People should just be so proud of themselves and the amount that they have donated. It's incredible.”
She said the plan was to initially raise $1000 for the families of the victims.
At the time of publishing, the total stood at a staggering $1,392,900.
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