Actress Clare McCann in emotional plea for help to have son's body cryogenically frozen
A Sydney actress has launched a radical bid to have her son's body cryogenically frozen.
Atreyu McCann, 13, took his own life last week after what his mum Clare McCann, 32, said was months of relentless, violent bullying at school in NSW.
McCann claims no students were suspended or expelled for their treatment of her child, and that she feels completely let down.
The Education Department said the school tried to help, but McCann said through tears it did 'nothing'.
She believes medical science could one day bring her 'intelligent, kind, sweet' boy back and give him a second chance to live the life he deserved.
'Maybe it might not ever happen, but if there's a chance, you know he deserves this chance,' she told 7NEWS.
Australia's only cryogenics facility has agreed to try
'100 per cent sure we're not certain. No guarantees, but there's a reasonable probability,' Southern Cryonics' Peter Tsolakides said.
As an actress, McCann revealed Tuesday's interview at their favourite walk and surf spot in Maroubra was her hardest ever moment on camera.
She says she had to do it to help fight school bullying and to get community support for her dreams for her son.
'I just want to be with him anyway I can and so I'm placing my bets everywhere. I'm doing everything I can,' McCann said.
A GoFundMe has been launched to help her reach her $300,000 target.
'We only have one chance left to cryogenically preserve his body within the next seven days,' she said.
'If we miss this window, we lose the chance for any future revival that science may offer.
'This is about hope and justice. Refusing to let my son's story end in silence.'
Any money raised above the target will be put towards a national anti-bullying campaign, legal action and 'support for other families impacted by systemic negligence'.
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West Australian
11 hours ago
- West Australian
Breketta Robertson: Mother reveals why she left baby Rijul for dead as she visits his grave for 30th birthday
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The young girl had been raped by her de facto stepfather, Joseph Neil Grace, for years and knew the pregnancy was a result of that. Panicking, she suffocated him, wrapped him in toilet paper and abandoned him in the toilet bowl. She did not hold him or acknowledge him as part of herself, acting instead out of fear of getting in trouble if the rape and grooming she had been subjected to came to light. She then returned to the caravan park and complained of a stomach ache before taking two Panadol and continuing on with her day. Who killed the newborn and why remained a mystery until WA Police arrested Ms Robertson in September 2019. Ms Robertson told the Kalgoorlie Miner it was still hard to imagine herself as the person who would hurt a child and wished she could go back and do things differently. She understood there would be people who would still see her as someone who killed her son, but knew she was not a bad person and she was a victim herself. 'Put yourself in the shoes of a 13-year-old, just turned 14, living in a family of people and no one noticed anything,' she said. 'I don't remember even looking at him, there was no physical bond at all. 'I didn't pick him up and hold him before I did any of that stuff, he was not part of me, he wasn't something I wanted to accept as mine at the time. 'I just remember fearing I would get in trouble if everything came out. 'There are so many what ifs and what could have beens but I just think if only someone had asked, if only someone had noticed, if only the timing had been different. 'It's not something I'm proud of. If I could turn back time . . . I would hope to have a voice that would speak up and get help. 'But my heart goes out to the community and I'm so thankful for what they did for him.' Ms Robertson said she did not remember much of the birth and while part of that hurt her, she was also thankful not to have those traumatic memories. 'I was just trying to keep it (the abuse) a secret,' she said. 'As a child you always think everything is your fault, you're the reason or it to be happening or there's something you've done that made it happen. 'So there was a lot of that and thinking I'd get in trouble — not him, me.' Ultimately, it was 'him' who got in trouble — being sentenced to 8½ years in jail in 2020 — and Ms Robertson instead being handed a suspended prison term, meaning she would spend no time in jail. Her rapist was the only person she told about the death, a few months after it happened, and she said he offered her no support and continued to rape her until she was 16, when she fell pregnant with her first daughter to a 30-year-old man. As a mother of five adult children now, she said it was hard to comprehend how no one noticed anything at the time. 'No one knew, I never told anyone else, I just lived with it the whole time by myself,' she said. 'I remember being pregnant, but back then there was no internet, no Google, no access to information like we have these days, but I knew something was going on. 'I just didn't know exactly when I fell pregnant or when I was due. 'I just felt invisible. No one noticed anything at all. 'We left two days after so the investigation wasn't in my face and things just went on as normal. 'I realise how lucky I am now that nothing else went wrong because three of my kids were C-sections and one was breach. 'If Rijul had been breached, as a child myself I don't know what could have happened.' With all six of her children she carried 'compact' and said she did not have a big pregnant belly, which she thinks helped her keep her first pregnancy under wraps. The trauma of all the sexual assault, the death, and subsequently being in an abusive relationship for many years definitely took its toll on Ms Robertson who says she battled with alcohol, drugs and depression for a lot of her life. 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'He would have been 30 this year and I just think what would have he become, what would have he done?' she said. 'I haven't really spoken about it all publicly but the community have a right to know what happened.' Rijul's death was a case that stuck with the Kambalda community for 24 years, with detectives launching various investigations but ultimately not producing any solid leads. That was until September 2019 when Ms Robertson was charged with his death. She recalled the day the police arrived at her door and said she felt an enormous amount of relief that the secret was finally out. She had been arrested for stealing from a Salvation Army bin after losing her belongings in a house fire in Victoria and it resulted in her DNA matching the Kambalda cold case. 'Someone finally asked, someone finally knew,' she said. 'There was no 'I didn't do it', it was finally out, and it was such a relief after carrying it on my own for so long. 'By that time, I had finally got to the point where I knew it wasn't my fault. 'It was a situation I was put in by an adult and that wasn't the type of person I was, I was the person who raised five amazing, wonderful adults. 'By then I had learned I wasn't a horrible person, and it wasn't done out of anything other than survival.' Ms Robertson said she would also like to speak to the woman who found Rijul, if they were willing to speak with her. To support Ms Robertson's GoFundMe for Rijul's headstone visit this link . If you or someone you know needs help, phone Sexual Assault Counselling Australia on 1800 211 028 or the Sexual Assault Resource Centre on 1800 199 888 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)
Perth Now
17 hours ago
- Perth Now
Perth couple in heated custody battle over foster puppy
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The Advertiser
18 hours ago
- The Advertiser
Police wrap up search for McCann evidence in Portugal
Portuguese and German police are wrapping up their search in Portugal's southern Algarve region for evidence related to the disappearance of British toddler Madeleine McCann 18 years ago. There were no immediate announcements on the outcome of the operation as vans with German licence plates and a Portuguese police vehicle left one of the search sites in Atalaia, a neighbourhood of Lagos municipality. A source involved in the operation said the searched area had included several derelict houses, wells and reservoirs covering "dozens of hectares". McCann went missing on May 3, 2007 while on holiday with her family in the Algarve town of Praia da Luz, sparking a frenzied search and gaining the attention of the world's media. She has never been found. German police said in June 2020 that McCann was presumed dead and that German citizen Christian Brueckner was probably responsible. He has denied responsibility. Brueckner, a convicted child abuser and drug dealer, is behind bars in Germany for raping a 72-year-old woman in the same area of the Algarve. His sentence runs until September, meaning he is set for release unless prosecutors find enough evidence to charge him over McCann's disappearance. Portuguese and German police are wrapping up their search in Portugal's southern Algarve region for evidence related to the disappearance of British toddler Madeleine McCann 18 years ago. There were no immediate announcements on the outcome of the operation as vans with German licence plates and a Portuguese police vehicle left one of the search sites in Atalaia, a neighbourhood of Lagos municipality. A source involved in the operation said the searched area had included several derelict houses, wells and reservoirs covering "dozens of hectares". McCann went missing on May 3, 2007 while on holiday with her family in the Algarve town of Praia da Luz, sparking a frenzied search and gaining the attention of the world's media. She has never been found. German police said in June 2020 that McCann was presumed dead and that German citizen Christian Brueckner was probably responsible. He has denied responsibility. Brueckner, a convicted child abuser and drug dealer, is behind bars in Germany for raping a 72-year-old woman in the same area of the Algarve. His sentence runs until September, meaning he is set for release unless prosecutors find enough evidence to charge him over McCann's disappearance. Portuguese and German police are wrapping up their search in Portugal's southern Algarve region for evidence related to the disappearance of British toddler Madeleine McCann 18 years ago. There were no immediate announcements on the outcome of the operation as vans with German licence plates and a Portuguese police vehicle left one of the search sites in Atalaia, a neighbourhood of Lagos municipality. A source involved in the operation said the searched area had included several derelict houses, wells and reservoirs covering "dozens of hectares". McCann went missing on May 3, 2007 while on holiday with her family in the Algarve town of Praia da Luz, sparking a frenzied search and gaining the attention of the world's media. She has never been found. German police said in June 2020 that McCann was presumed dead and that German citizen Christian Brueckner was probably responsible. He has denied responsibility. Brueckner, a convicted child abuser and drug dealer, is behind bars in Germany for raping a 72-year-old woman in the same area of the Algarve. His sentence runs until September, meaning he is set for release unless prosecutors find enough evidence to charge him over McCann's disappearance. Portuguese and German police are wrapping up their search in Portugal's southern Algarve region for evidence related to the disappearance of British toddler Madeleine McCann 18 years ago. There were no immediate announcements on the outcome of the operation as vans with German licence plates and a Portuguese police vehicle left one of the search sites in Atalaia, a neighbourhood of Lagos municipality. A source involved in the operation said the searched area had included several derelict houses, wells and reservoirs covering "dozens of hectares". McCann went missing on May 3, 2007 while on holiday with her family in the Algarve town of Praia da Luz, sparking a frenzied search and gaining the attention of the world's media. She has never been found. German police said in June 2020 that McCann was presumed dead and that German citizen Christian Brueckner was probably responsible. He has denied responsibility. Brueckner, a convicted child abuser and drug dealer, is behind bars in Germany for raping a 72-year-old woman in the same area of the Algarve. His sentence runs until September, meaning he is set for release unless prosecutors find enough evidence to charge him over McCann's disappearance.
