When baby Leonardo’s pram rolled into the River Torrens last Christmas the tragedy made headlines. Now his mother reveals the pain of losing her precious boy.
Stunning model-mum Kerry Lucas proudly placed her baby son in front of the Christmas tree, smiling as she snuggled a first Santa hat onto his downy head.
Grabbing her camera, she captured the magical moment for the family album, knowing five-month-old Leonardo would soon be snoozing in his three-wheeler pram on their regular early-morning jog along Adelaide’s River Torrens.
Little did she know her happy snapshots would become a reminder of a Christmas celebration tragically cut short.
Kerry pointed out ducklings along the river bank to little Leo as she pushed him along at a brisk jog on December 15 last year. Moments later, a mobile call interrupted her run. She turned to scribble a phone number down on her leg, as she had no paper. As she did this, the pram slipped unnoticed towards the river with the slumbering infant strapped firmly inside.
“The woman caller was still on the line when I noticed Leonardo had gone, and she must have heard me jumping in front of cars begging motorists to help me find my missing baby, which must have been awful for her,” says Kerry, 31.
The former Inside Sport cover-girl’s anguished cries attracted the attention of a nearby TV camera crew, who filmed what they thought was a baby kidnapping, and passers-by joined the frantic search.
But 25 minutes later, Leonardo’s pram surfaced in the river, and a different tragedy unfolded.
Now, four months after the accident made headlines, his shattered mother has finally broken her silence about the tragedy in a bid to kick-start the special legacy founded in little Leo’s memory — and to spare other parents the heartache she and her husband Wesley Legrand are now enduring.
“Even now, that day’s a horrible blur where time stopped still and nothing felt real,” Kerry says sadly. I don’t remember calling Wes or my mum, but I must have because they arrived on the scene after the police.
“All I remember is police asking questions — they even asked me if I had a baby and rang the hospital to check.”
“There’s no timetable for grief … it can take weeks, months or years — but I have a special place in my heart I know will never heal.”
Today, counselling has helped Kerry speak Leonardo’s name again with joy.
Her pain lingers, but Kerry wants her work to help bring hope to other parents battling grief. She is donating the full payment from her story with Woman’s Day to SIDS and to the Leonardo Appeal, launched in conjunction with Channel Seven and Messenger Newspapers.
“The funds from Leo’s appeal will go towards Seven’s Children’s Research Foundation which funds studies into issues affecting children’s health and welfare and will help save other children’s lives,” she says. “So people mustn’t be afraid to speak Leo’s name — he was such a happy baby — and his smiles will remain with us for life.”
For the full interview, see this week’s issue of Woman’s Day (on-sale April 23).
To donate to The Leonardo Appeal, call (08) 8243 8259 or mail to Channel Seven Children’s Research Foundation, PO Box 2438, Regency Park, SA 5942. Contact the SIDS Foundation on 1300 308 307 or go to www.sidsandkids.org
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