SA mum shares touching last moments of their Christmas together

Adelaide mother Miranda McLaughlin spent six precious days visiting her son Peter Dodt in Tasmania before the 12-year-old died in a tragic jumping castle accident.

The devastated South Australian mother of a 12-year-old boy killed in the Tasmania jumping castle tragedy says one of the last things her son did before he died was place the star on the family’s Christmas tree.

“I don’t think we will take the Christmas tree down,” said Miranda McLaughlin. She lives in Adelaide’s southern suburbs but remains in Tasmania at present.

Her son Peter Dodt was one of six children killed in a horrific freak accident in Davenport on Thursday. A gust of wind swept a jumping castle into the air and Peter and his classmates fell 10m to their deaths on their last day at Hillcrest Primary School.

Miranda McLaughlin with son Peter Dodt who tragically died in the bouncing castle accident in Tasmania. Picture: Supplied

Six days earlier Ms McLaughlin and her toddler son Dylan arrived in Tasmania, from Adelaide, to visit her children and Dylan’s half-siblings Peter, Cassie and Chloe – who lived with their dad Andrew Dodt in Tasmania.

She had last seen Peter and her daughters at Christmas last year, as border closures preventing an earlier reunion. Before Covid, she said the family would spend one month together four times a year – twice in Tasmania and twice in SA.

“Peter was so happy to see me and his little brother,” she told The Advertiser.

“He put the Christmas tree up and decorated it. He put the star on himself – no-one helped him – he was tall enough this year to do it on his own,” she said.

“It was one of the last things he did.”

Peter Dodt at Hillcrest Primary School. Picture: Supplied

Miranda McLaughlin with children Peter Dodt and his siblings Cassie, Dylan and Chloe. Picture: Supplied

Peter was killed with his classmates Jye Sheehan, Jalailah Jayne-Maree Jones and Zane Mellor, all age 12, and Addison Stewart, who was 11. The tragic toll rose to six on Sunday with the death of 11-year-old Chace Harrison. Two children remain in a critical condition in Hobart Hospital.

“He was the most beautiful person in the world,” said Ms McLaughlin.

“He was full of life,” she said. “He made everyone smile and his heart was so generous.

“When his sister would take him to the Skill tester claw machine and he won, he would give away his prize every time. He would always give them to some other kid he felt needed it more.”

She said Peter’s funeral would not take place until after Christmas as family scattered across the nation made their way to Tasmania.

“If there is a man upstairs, why did he have to take one of the most beautiful people away from so many?” she said.

“He had such a big heart and a big gift and he would have done so much.”