Latest news with #Atreyu
Yahoo
a day ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Australian actor raising money to cryogenically preserve teen son
Editor's Note: This article contains discussions of suicide. Reader discretion is advised. If you or someone you know is struggling with thoughts of suicide, you can find resources in your area on the National Crisis Line website or by calling 988. (NewsNation) — An Australian actor who lost her 13-year-old son to suicide has begun raising money to have the teen cryogenically frozen. Clare McCann, 32, of Sydney, hopes that future medical technology can bring back her son, Atreyu McCann. 7NEWS in Sydney reported that Atreyu died May 23 after what his mother described as months of incessant, violent bullying at his school in New South Wales. McCann said in an Instagram post that her son took his own life in a 'moment of unbearable pain.' Family files lawsuit against school alleging bullying led to son's suicide 'This was not his fault,' the grieving mother wrote. 'He was let down by the schooling system as he suffered horrendous amounts of bullying. Now I humbly beg of you to help me preserve his life and help me fight against this inhumane landslide of child suicides caused by unchecked bullying by schools and teachers.' McCann told 7NEWS that the students who bullied Atreyu were never properly disciplined for their behavior. She disputed Education Department claims that the school tried to intervene. The actress wrote on her GoFundMe page that she has medical records, psychologist reports and a formal PTSD diagnosis from Atreyu's doctor, along with emails 'proving (she) raised the alarm repeatedly' to school administrators, to no avail. She described her son as an 'intelligent, kind, sweet' boy who deserves a second chance if possible. 'Maybe it might not ever happen, but if there's a chance, you know, he deserves a chance,' McCann told the news station. Pope Francis says bullying at school prepares students for war, not peace Southern Cryonics, Australia's only cryogenics facility, has agreed to do what it can to offer Atreyu that second chance. 'A hundred percent we're not certain,' Southern Cryonics founder Peter Tsolakides told 7NEWS. 'No guarantees, but there's a reasonable probability.' McCann wrote earlier this week that her son's body needed to be frozen within the next seven days. 'If we miss this window, we lose the chance for any future revival that science may offer,' she wrote. 'This is about hope and justice. Refusing to let my son's story end in silence.' As of Friday, the fundraiser had raised just under $16,000 of the $300,000 goal. From deepfake nudes to incriminating audio, school bullying is going AI A New South Wales Department of Education spokesperson told NBC News the agency was devastated by Atreyu's death and that department officials and school administrators will work with authorities to determine the circumstances behind the boy's death. Australian residents who need help in a crisis can call Lifeline on 13 11 14, according to 7NEWS. For further information about depression, they can contact beyondblue on 1300224636 or talk to their GP, local health professional or someone they trust. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Health
- Daily Mail
Time running out for actress who is fundraising to freeze her 13-year-old son's body after he took his own life
An Australian actress is racing against time to raise funds to have her 13-year-old son's body cryogenically preserved after he took his own life last month following what she says was relentless bullying at school. Clare McCann described her son Atreyu as 'the brightest light' in her world. He died at their Sydney home after enduring two months of abuse, harassment and threats from fellow students beginning in his first week of high school. Clare, known for her work on the Australian series Blog Party and as the founder of the Sydney Women's International Film Festival, is now urgently appealing for $300,000 (£143,000) to have her son's body frozen in the hopes that scientific advances may one day bring him back. 'As my worst nightmare has come to life, my child's has been stolen,' she wrote in a heartfelt post, alongside a photo of her and Atreyu at a movie premiere. 'It breaks my heart beyond what words can compare to share that, in a moment of unbearable pain, Atreyu took his own life. 'This was not his fault. He was let down by the schooling system as he suffered horrendous amounts of bullying.' McCann explained on her GoFundMe page that time is of the essence. There is now less than 48 hours left to cryogenically preserve Atreyu's body. 'We only have one chance left to cryogenically preserve his body within the next seven days,' she wrote last week. '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.' Cryogenic freezing, or cryopreservation, involves preserving human remains at ultra-low temperatures in the hope they might one day be revived. Australia's first cryonics facility, Southern Cryonics, made headlines last year when it announced the successful preservation of its first client, referred to as 'Patient One.' Any donations above the $300,000 goal, McCann said, will go towards launching a national anti-bullying campaign and pursuing legal action against what she described as the 'institutions that failed him.' 'I am a public figure with a national platform, and I will use every resource I have to make sure this never happens again, not just to my son, but to any other child failed by this system,' she said. McCann said the torment began just days after Atreyu's first day at a NSW high school on February 5. According to a detailed timeline she has shared, Atreyu was allegedly held underwater during a 'violent incident' on a Year 7 camp from February 7 to 9 - a serious allegation she says was never formally reported to her. She claims he was also subjected to sexual harassment and ongoing verbal abuse during the camp, with no psychological support provided. By mid-February, she says her request for a meeting with teachers was denied after police told her the matter should be handled within the school. The following day, she says a senior school official dismissed the camp incident as 'typical peer reaction' and Atreyu was issued a warning. The bullying escalated, she alleges, with Atreyu enduring a racial slur during a school sport session and verbal taunts related to his appearance and a congenital condition. In March, she says the school was informed that other students crafted a weapon to coerce her son into self-harm but, again, no action was taken. Atreyu reportedly began missing school due to 'stress and fear,' and one day phoned his mother in distress. His backpack was allegedly stolen and he faced further public humiliation. McCann says her son warned on April 2 that he would take his life if he was forced to return to school. Despite her pleas for disciplinary action against the bullies, she claims no suspensions or expulsions followed. From April 6 to 10, she says he was too afraid to leave the house. On April 11, he was diagnosed with PTSD. He ended his life soon after, leaving behind a final message filled with love and an apology, ending with a red heart emoji. 'I begged for help,' McCann wrote. 'I submitted complaints. I shared medical records. No one listened. 'He was just 13. He deserved a future. If the school and government had acted when I asked, he might still be alive.' The NSW Department of Education said it takes all allegations of bullying seriously and stated it had policies in place to address such issues. 'We are devastated to learn of the death of a student from a Sydney high school and extend our deepest sympathies to the family, friends and community members,' said NSW Deputy Secretary Public School Deborah Summerhayes. McCann, however, said her calls for intervention were ignored. 'I have medical records, psychologist reports, a formal PTSD diagnosis from his doctor, and emails proving I raised the alarm repeatedly. 'But nothing was done. No one stepped in. And now, my beautiful boy is gone,' she wrote. Atreyu was following in his mother's footsteps, having appeared in the 2019 film Benefitted, directed by McCann, as well as an episode of Deadly Women and the short film Black Truck, where he played a boy living with total colour blindness. He also performed in stage productions with the Australian Theatre for Young People and was a frequent presence on red carpets alongside his mother. 'It's with shattered hearts that we share the passing of my beautiful son, Atreyu McCann,' his mother shared on Saturday. 'He was the brightest light in my world - kind, creative, and endlessly loved. 'Right now, we are grieving a loss that words can't hold. Please give us time and space as we process this unimaginable pain. 'Thank you to everyone who has supported and loved Atreyu. We'll share more when we're ready. For now, please hold him in your hearts.'
News.com.au
3 days ago
- Health
- News.com.au
Time is running out for Clare McCann to cryogenically preserve her son who died by suicide last week
Time is running out for Clare McCann. The devastated mother desperately trying to keep the lifeless body of her 13-year-old boy preserved so he can 'come back to life' and see the world is not such a 'cruel, horrible place' - and people really do love him. With just 48 hours left to raise $300,000 for cryopreservation, McCann is acutely aware she might miss the crucial time window, and the thought of what to do next is debilitating. 'I've been sitting there with him in the morgue just kissing him, realistically from Thursday I know I should be putting him in a fully synthetic sleeping bad and putting ice packs surrounding him at the minimum to have any kind of chance but I just don't want to disturb him if this is all for nothing,' McCann told Watch McCann's heartbreaking plea in the video player above 'I mean, I want him back, but at the same time, the ice will disfigure him so if I can't use the cryopreservation technology how do I do that to my baby? I can't do that to my beautiful baby. 'If this doesn't work, if I can't raise the money to do this then I can't even think about what's next, a cemetery … I can't even.' McCann was gutted to find her only child Atreyu had died by suicide on Friday after several months of relentless bullying at high school. She said his tormentors held his head under water at school camp, taunted him with name calling, drew pictures on his arms and generally 'made him miserable and withdrawn' to the point he had stayed home from school for the last four weeks. McCann says she wishes she had never sent him to high school. 'Bullies need to be stopped, the system needs to be fixed, this cruel behaviour that goes on it has to stop and schools have to take it seriously and until they do, every child should be home-schooled,' she said. 'I feel so guilty I sent him. Adults need to stand up and fix the system. But how can I fight to save other kids if I can't even save my own child. I need to save him right now that's all I can think about.' McCann has raised almost $12,000 of the $300,000 she needs to have a shot at preserving Atreyu's body. The little boy, named after the hero in The Neverending Story, had talked about the prospect of 'being frozen' when he dies and coming back in the afterlife with his mum. 'We talked about swimming in the ocean, then we joked, no we might get eaten by sharks, so then we thought about coming back as birds and flying together. 'The thought of being able to bring him back gives me something to hang on to. Without that I literally have nothing.' As the hours ticked by this week, and hopes faded for a millionaire with an interest in science coming forward to help fund the cryopreservation, McCann sat with her boy and read him his favourite book. 'I brought him The Neverending story today to read to him in the morgue because we never finished it,' she said. 'It's so sad because the last time we read it was probably two, three weeks ago and we got up to a horrible bit and that's where it was left. So I thought 'I need to take you out of that bit' so I read to him past that bit and beyond. Now I just have to do everything I can to give him a chance to come back.' McCann is hurt by the horrible comments on social media about her plight. 'People are making comments saying I'm entitled, I'm an actress, I'm worth $2 million. I shake my head, I've been a volunteer for the last 10 years, and home-schooling my son. I've never even made like half a million in my life. 'If people don't want to donate or don't agree with what I'm doing then scroll on, why do they have to be so horrible?' Comments like 'what if your son wakes up and you've already passed?' are also hurtful. 'If my son's in cryo, I'm going into cryo. Do you think I'm just gonna let him wake up by himself to his misery? No. And even if I don't make it, I've got friends who've said they'll commit and they'll do it. 'I want him to wake up and see the world can be more kind, and he can get the proper help he needs in a mental health care facility. He can have a second chance.' Founder of Southern Cryonics Peter Tsolakides told time was fast running out for McCann but he was doing everything possible to help. 'We have already lost valuable time so the conditions are not optimal for success for Clare's boy, but no one ever knows, we will help her in whatever way we can. All the members here feel so sorry for what she's gone through,' Mr Tsolakides said. Southern Cryonics is a not-for-profit enterprise and the first cryonics storage facility in the southern hemisphere. Based in Holbrook, it currently houses one body, although more than 40 people have already signed up to go through the process when they die. 'What normally happens is we would have come into contact with the person before death, a medical team would visit the hospital and there is monitoring by the emergency response team until legal death is pronounced,' Mr Tsolakides said. 'It's a complicated process but already, with the time delay, we have missed important steps in cooling the body at the pace we need to keep the brain at optimal health. 'What this process is really about is keeping the brain healthy so that one day when science and medicine catches up, the body is ready for what's next,' he said. Agreeing it is still unknown whether anyone preserved this way can ever be revived, Mr Tsolakides said everyone who has signed up to have their body suspended knows science is a long way behind but it's about 'giving yourself the best chance'.
NBC News
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- NBC News
Australian actress starts fundraiser to cryogenically preserve son, who died by suicide after bullying
A mother in Australia is raising money to cryogenically preserve her 13-year-old son's body after he died by suicide following "months of brutal bullying," according to the online fundraiser. Clare McCann, an actress and filmmaker from New South Wales, launched the fundraiser on Sunday, explaining that her son, Atreyu McCann, died May 23. She wrote that her teenage son "took his own life after months of horrific bullying at his public school." The mother explained she repeatedly asked her son's school and the Department of Education and Children's Services to intervene, "but nothing was done. No one stepped. And now, my beautiful boy is gone," the fundraiser says. The New South Wales Department of Education did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday. McCann told 7News Sydney that from the moment her son started high school, he was subjected to bullying. Even following her son's death, she said no students were disciplined. "None of them were suspended, none of them were expelled. I feel completely let down," she told the Australian outlet. McCann is seeking $300,000 to preserve his body within the next seven days — "or the opportunity for him to live again will be lost forever." Cryopreservation is the concept of freezing humans as soon as they die, with the hope of reviving them using future medicine. "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," McCann wrote. In the fundraiser, she said that she planned to use the money for the "immediate cryopreservation and legal transportation," medical and legal services for the procedure and a trust in her son's name. McCann said she wants to use the money raised to ensure "this never happens again." "Please help us preserve our beloved Atreyu and give his life the dignity and future that his school stole from him," the fundraiser said. Australia's only cryogenics facility is on board to try. "100% sure — we're not certain. No guarantees. But there's a reasonable probability," Peter Tsolakides of Southern Cryonics told 7News. According to the company's website, its mission is to promote "scientifically based cryonic suspension as a credible option for life extension." The website says cryonic suspension involves encasing a body, cooling it to a vitrified state over several days, placing it in a stainless-steel vessel, and long-term maintenance of a liquid nitrogen storage environment to prevent the deterioration of tissues "for centuries if necessary." As of Tuesday afternoon, over $7,300 AUD had been raised. McCann had shared an Instagram post over the weekend, announcing her son's death. "As my worst nightmare has come to life my child's has been stolen. It breaks my heart beyond what words can compare to share that in a moment of unbearable pain Atreyu took his own life," she wrote. "This was not his fault. He was let down by the schooling system as he suffered horrendous amounts of bullying," she continued. "Now I humbly beg of you to help me preserve his life and help me fight against this inhumane landslide of child suicides caused by unchecked bullying by schools and teachers." McCann did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday.
News18
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- News18
Australian Actress Wants To 'Cryogenically Preserve' Teen Son Who Died By Suicide, Seeks Rs 1.6 Crore
Last Updated: Clare McCann, whose son died by suicide after alleged bullying at school, said she has seven days to raise the money or "the opportunity for him to live again will be lost forever" An Australian actress and filmmaker has started a funding campaign seeking Rs 1.6 crore to 'cryogenically preserve" the body of her 13-year-old son, who died by suicide. Clare McCann, whose son died by suicide after alleged bullying at school, said she has seven days to raise the money or 'the opportunity for him to live again will be lost forever". On the GoFundMe page she has opened for the purpose, she has already managed to raise close to Rs 4 lakh. 'My 13-year-old son tragically took his own life after months of brutal bullying at a NSW public school. I'm urgently raising $300,000 to cryogenically preserve his body within the next 7 days – or the opportunity for him to live again will be lost forever," she said in her appeal on GoFundMe. According to the New York Post, McCann's son Atreyu died by suicide on May 23, and the actress believes that there is a chance to revive him in the future through cryopreservation. advetisement Cryopreservation aims at maintaining the viability and functionality of biological samples over long periods. Methods such as controlled cooling are used to slowly decrease the temperature of the material to avoid damage from ice crystal formation. It can have various applications like embryo and sperm freezing for future reproduction, organ and tissue banking, as well as research. McCann said Atreyu was subjected to 'months of horrific bullying at his public school" and she had also 'begged the school, the Department of Education, and Children's Services to intervene". 'I have medical records, psychologist reports, a formal PTSD diagnosis from his doctor, and emails proving I raised the alarm repeatedly. But nothing was done. No one stepped in. And now, my beautiful boy is gone," she said. She explained how the funds will be used for immediate cryopreservation and legal transportation: required medical and legal services for the procedure and a trust in Atreyu's name to protect his legacy. If there are any funds to spare, they will go towards raising awareness against bullying and related educational reforms. She said they will also look into legal action against institutions lacking infrastructure to help students cope as well as support for other impacted families. 'I am a public figure with a national platform, and I will use every resource I have to make sure this never happens again, not just to my son, but to any other child failed by this system," she said. McCann told that she had discussed afterlife and heaven, as well as cryogenics with her son a few years ago and what they would want to do together so as not to be separated from each other. 'All I need to say is how much I really need these funds to give my son what he wanted. About six or seven years ago, we started talking about the afterlife and heaven, and I talked to him a little about cryogenics, and he told me he would like to do that. Over the years, we talked about that that's what we would want to do together, never separate. He deserves a second chance to live the life he wanted," she was quoted. Watch India Pakistan Breaking News on CNN-News18. Get breaking news, in-depth analysis, and expert perspectives on everything from geopolitics to diplomacy and global trends. Stay informed with the latest world news only on News18. Download the News18 App to stay updated! Location : Australia First Published:
