On April 11, Moama’s Xavier Edwards, 13, had an accident that would change his life forever.
Xavier was riding around with his mates on a BMX track, when he fell off his bike and landed badly.
Xavier’s father, Jase Edwards, received a worried call from some of Xavier’s friends, who were concerned about him after the fall.
Upon arrival, Jase immediately called an ambulance and the decision was made that Xavier would need to be airlifted to the Royal Children’s Hospital.
It was there at RCH that it was confirmed that Xavier was now a quadriplegic.
Xavier’s grandmother Roz McKenzie Edwards said their world had been flipped upside down by the freak accident.
“Words cannot describe how devastated we are,” she said.
“He wasn’t even doing anything wrong or getting up to anything mischievous. He was just being a boy playing with his mates and in one moment everything has changed — just like that.”
Ms Edwards said Xavier loved hanging out with friends, going swimming, paddle boarding, having sleepovers, gaming, and going to family catch-ups.
“He’s just at that age where all he wants to do is hang out with mates and become more independent and now this has happened,” she said.
Xavier has been in the intensive care unit at RCH for more than six weeks now and is expected to be there for another six to 12 months with regular rehabilitation appointments.
Jase and Ms Edwards’ sister have been staying at Ronald McDonald House, which is attached to the hospital, while Ms Edwards has been taking care of Xavier’s brother.
Ms Edwards said the family was now focused on surrounding Xavier with positivity and hope.
“The doctor who told us that he was now quadriplegic said that he could still live a really good life with positive people around him, so that’s now our aim.
“I’m sure he will always have days that aren’t so great, but we really hope that he can live his best life and possibly even go back to school but everything is still very up in the air at the moment.”
Over the years, the Edwards family has shown strength time and time again through difficult times.
Jase is a single dad to three boys aged 11, 13 and 19 and his eldest son has low-functioning autism.
Ms Edwards said Jase spent many years as not only a father, but a carer to his eldest son, until he went into residential care in 2019.
“There was no way Jase could work until his son went into care, only then was he able to begin working part-time at Moama Bakery and with the window cleaning business that he started.
“He was just getting that business off the ground and getting his life back together when this has now happened to Xavier.
“Things have been really hard for our family.”
Ms Edwards said she and the rest of the family had been blown away by the generosity of the community over the past few weeks, particularly with the Lad’s Long Lunch event, which saw more than $121,000 being donated to the family.
“Dave and Jacqui from the Moama Bakery, who organised that event, are just wonderful, wonderful people and we are just so thankful for them.”
Ms Edwards said there was also a GoFundMe page for Xavier, which would help raise money to go towards a wheelchair, a wheelchair-modified car and modifications towards their house.
“They’re in a private rental at the moment, which we don’t know if that will even be able to continue because we will need to make modifications to the house and we are not sure if you are allowed to do that to a rental property.
“We’re still investigating what to do in terms of the living situation. Ideally it’d be lovely to be able to buy them a house just so they’d have security, but I think it would take a winning lottery ticket to be able to do that.”
In terms of Xavier’s mental state, Ms Edwards said he was coping extremely well.
“The hospital has given him a lot of support and his dad is there with him all the time. He would be there 24 hours a day, if he could be,” she said.
“Xavier is just a beautiful kid and I’m sure he will grow into a lovely young man. It’s just going to be a bit different to the life that we thought it would be.”
Anyone who is interested in donating can do so by following this link https://www.gofundme.com/f/xavier-edwards