'Superhero' boy still healing years after pushing brother from path of car
It happened in an instant. Shanalee Hoad was juggling her three excited kids outside a dance class, when her four-year-old, Kya, ran off towards the road.
His older brother, Calyn, took off after him. And, as Kya burst into the path of a 4WD, Calyn instinctively pushed him out of the way, taking the full impact of the car.
“There would be no way that Kya would be able to survive that, just because of the difference in height and everything, he would have been gone," Shanalee said.
“Without Calyn, we wouldn't have Kya here."
Calyn was critically injured and doctors feared he wouldn’t make it. But he had a constant companion by his bedside every single day - his brother, Kya, who calls Calyn a "superhero".
“He really cared about me, and he didn't want me to get hit by a car,” Kya said.
Sunday Night first met Calyn back in March 2014. His story inspired the nation as he not only survived the accident but rose to every challenge.
Calyn slowly recovered from his devastating injuries, but then tragedy struck again.
He contracted a life-threatening infection three years after the car accident.
For Calyn's father, Ben, watching his son fight through the pain was one of the hardest things he has had to as a parent after three years of progress since the car accident.
"Then we just hit the wall again, he had a really bad infection which turned out to be bacterial meningitis," he said.
As Calyn celebrates his eleventh birthday, he still suffers constant seizures and has painful spasms down his left side.
He wears a brace to keep his leg straight and his expensive, exhausting treatment is ongoing.
With the support of his family, this brave young boy is simply unstoppable.
“Never give up, that is probably the biggest lesson I have learnt through this whole journey," Ben said.
"His accident, the meningitis, he never gave up and we never gave up."
