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'We're not meant to bury our children': grief-stricken mother speaks |
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The Age |
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| The parents of Cameron Lowe, who died after being punched in the face, recall him as a prankster and a supportive brother. A teenager who died after he was punched in the head at Pakenham this week had been bashed and robbed in the same West Gippsland town earlier this year. The grief-stricken parents of Cameron Lowe, 17, today made an emotional plea for youths to stop the senseless violence on the small town's streets, as they expressed sorrow for the person who had hit and killed their son. "Two lives have been lost, a lot of lives have ... been affected," Cameron's mother Rikki Arney said, fighting back tears. "I can't believe [Cameron's] not going to come home. We're meant to go before our babies. We're not meant to bury our children. It's not fair." Cameron's father, Gavin Lowe, said of his son's attacker: "I feel sorry for him". They revealed Cameron, the second oldest of eight children, had been bashed and robbed in Pakenham earlier this year and as parents they had been wary about letting him out at night because of the violence. "That's why I didn't let them walk the streets. It can be a small town, there's not much for the kids to do and you see them walking the streets," Ms Arney said. "Only once before had he walked out and he got bashed and robbed, and [on Saturday night] that was the second time I ever let him out because I thought there were a few of them." Cameron had been at Hungry Jack's with his older brother Brandon and a friend about midnight on Saturday. As they walked home, they became involved in an argument with a group of up to 20 youths. Cameron was punched in the head, causing him to fall and hit his head on the road. "He told me he loved me that night, (that) I was the best mum there was," Ms Arney said. "Kids and teenagers, they don’t tell you these things that often, but him and Brandon cuddled me and told me they loved me that I was the best mum in the world. I’m never going to hear that again. I’m so grateful I heard that before I lost him." An hour after the attack, Cameron updated his Facebook status, asking friends for a hug with the message: "I'm sore :'( " Minutes later he wrote: "Dunno what happened but my jaw hurts ... all I wanna do is cry". "Wtf I must be drunk," he posted at 2.01am. "All I know is my head hurts." His final post, at 2.12am, read: "Sore :'(" Cameron was discovered in his bed not breathing about 13 hours after the punch. He was taken to The Alfred hospital but died about 1.30pm on Monday. "He was only meant to get a hamburger and come home. I can't understand he's never going to come home," Ms Arney said. "It's just a random, senseless act that should never have happened and we've all been robbed. He was just starting his life. "I hope my son doesn't die in vain. I hope there's something out there that can change what goes on because there are too many kids walking the streets with nothing to do." Ms Arney said the only positive thing to come out of the incident was that Cameron was an organ donor. "Maybe five lives can be saved from this senseless, tragic death," she said. "There's no point being selfish and taking everything with you but at the end of the day Cameron was gone, and what was left was his shell and anything I could do to help others ..." Her wish was for Cameron to be buried in a white casket, which would be scrawled with messages from his friends. "We've had so much support. The whole community of Pakenham, people I don't know have done so much," she said. "There are things he's done at high school I've just found out last night that I never knew. He was such a cheeky little bugger and if he wasn't [up] there I'd probably smack his bottom right now. He was a character." A 17-year-old boy who handed himself in to police on Monday was questioned for several hours before being released without charge. Police investigations are continuing. |