On 11 April, 2008, Kristy McCarron started her day like any other. She packed her family into the car and took her 21-month-old son, Travis off to family day care in the Tweed Shire before dropping her older daughter Tameeka to school and headed to work. But just a couple of hours later she got a call that would change her life forever.
“There’s been an accident, Travis has fallen into some water, we’re on our way to the hospital’” Kristy said told Kidspot about the call she got from the day care provider.
“It’s strange, I am usually a ‘worst case scenario’ worrier, I always jump to the most extreme conclusions, but the phone call had given me no indication that the situation was really desperate, so I assumed that maybe Travis had been injured, like broken bones or something, but I assumed he would be OK.”
But Kristy was about to find out just how wrong she was.
In the days leading up to Travis’ death it had been raining so when Kristy dropped her toddler off to day care there was a casual mention of trying to get the kids outside and take advantage of the sunny day.
“There were no specifics, no discussion about taking Travis outside of the Family Day Care to visit a park, and definitely no permission sought from me to do so,” said Kristy.
Shortly after the concerned 10am phone call a co-worker drove the anxious mum to see her son at the hospital and it was there she was rushed into a room to witness medics working frantically to resuscitate Travis’ tiny body.
“I was there, in the room when they called it. It was 11.10am and they called it. He was gone. He had been gone the whole time. They had been trying to bring him back, but he was gone,” Kirsty said.
At the 2009 inquest into Travis McCarron’s’ death licensed carer Donna Devenny of the said that the incident had occurred after she had lost sight of the toddler for five minutes whilst taking him and four other young children on an excursion to Russell Way Park.
It was claimed that Ms Devenny– who had more than 10 years experience in child care – and other carers from the Tweed Shire Family Daycare Association had no knowledge of the pond where Travis was found unconscious – a body of water which was overrun with reeds and lily ponds and next to a much larger lake.
The NSW Deputy State Coroner Paul MacMahon said that while “it was not the role of the coroner to attribute blame … it was the inadequacy of her (Ms Devenny’s) supervision that resulted in Travis’s death.”
But a further four inquests resulted in no charges ever being laid. While the coroner noted that Travis’ death “has wide ramifications” the only consequences seemed to be a recommendation for Tweed Shire Council to install a fence around the playground equipment – a measure that was implemented almost two years after the toddler drowned, reports the Tweed Daily News.
But seven years after her son’s death Kristy McCarron, who has gone on to have two more children, Joey and Ruby, is still a grieving mum who has never received an apology from those who were supposed to be caring for Travis on the day he died.
“No letter, no card, no note. Nothing,” Kristy told Kidspot.
And for that Kristy says she can’t find forgiveness.
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