Calyn’s brave act to save little brother gains him a Pride of Australia nomination
IT WAS the ultimate act of bravery that cost young Calyn Hoad his life as he knew it.
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IT WAS the ultimate act of bravery that cost young Calyn Hoad his life as he knew it.
And for little brother Kya, Calyn will now always be his “hero”, for saving his life on a fateful day in August last year.
It was just an ordinary winter’s day in the southern Brisbane suburb of Springwood until five-year-old Kya found himself in the path of an oncoming four-wheel drive.
Calyn, 8, thought nothing of running to his little brother’s rescue, but in doing so he was hit by the car, the impact fracturing his skull and leaving him brain damaged.
For his heroic efforts Calyn has been nominated for a Pride of Australia Child of Courage award.
His dad Benjamin Hoad, 32, said the nomination was fantastic, saying his son was a “brave little boy”.
“
I’m just so proud of him,’’ the Beenleigh father said.
“As a dad, you couldn’t ask for anything more of him.
“Calyn just loves his brother. He does anything to keep him from harm.
“He knows not to be on the roads, he knows not to run out on the roads. I guess that’s why he ran out to save him.”
The driver of the car that hit Calyn stopped to assist and was not charged over the incident.
Mr Hoad said Kya had told his parents he understood what his brother had done for him.
“Kya said that ‘Calyn saved me’,’’ Mr Hoad said.
“He said ‘I went to go to the car, Dad, and Calyn grabbed me and pushed me away. Calyn’s my hero’.”
Mr Hoad said the family was trying to reteach Calyn to walk, chew and talk.
“If I hold his hand now, he can walk beside me – that took about six months to eight months of rehab,” he said.
While Calyn was making good progress, there was still a lot of work to be done.
“He’s come a long way,” Mr Hoad said. “Things just happen slowly … that’s OK; we’ve got all the time in the world.”
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