Nevaeh Austin, little girl left on a child care centre bus at Gracemere, starts to make recovery

The first pic of three-year-old Nevaeh Austin lying in her hospital bed has emerged, as family reveal she has been “giggling, squealing and eating ice-cream” despite being pulled unconscious from a childcare bus two days ago.

A family friend of Nevaeh Austin has begun fundraising efforts to help the family as the little girl makes a recovery in a Brisbane hospital from being trapped inside a Queensland child care centre bus for almost six hours on Wednesday.

The friend, who goes by the name Sparkey Crackerjack on Facebook, said the funds would go directly to the family.

“This is not a scam, it is at the request of Nevaeh’s parents and their immediate family,” his Facebook post reads.

“Let’s get behind this family and help raise some much needed money in their time of need.

“I am sure you have all heard of the terrible event that at a Gracemere daycare centre with our dear little Nevaeh.

“Well Shane (her Dad and family need help). Every donation helps small or big.

“Please help this family in this hard time.

“I know times are tough but I would not want to be going through what this family is going through at this time.”

The post asks for people to message for bank details.

Many people have asked for a GoFundMe account to be made.

“For reasons I can’t explain publicly, this is the only way the funds go directly to the family.”

The friend said the family was still in Brisbane by Nevaeh’s side.

A photo was shared on social media of Nevaeh sleeping in a hospital bed with a teddy bear next to her.

The little girl has woken up and is talking and “giggling, squealing and eating ice-cream”, her grandmother says.

“I talked to Shane (Nevaeh’s father) today (Friday) and she is getting there but it is going to be a long road ahead for all of them not only medically but also emotionally,” the family friend wrote on Facebook.

Another family member of Nevaeh’s also shared her thanks and said Neveah was a lucky little girl who had everyone praying for her to pull through.

“Thank you to everyone that has messaged, called or offered help at this horrendous time,” Christy Atta-Singh wrote.

“It’s a disheartening time for all involved.

“Vaeh has Austin in her blood so is fighting her little heart out, and has been raised by a tough woman.

“It’s gut wrenching seeing and being bedside to such an innocent child but she is in the best hands with all the love and support in the world.

“On behalf of both families thank you.”

Ms Atta-Singh also wrote Nevaeh had multiple angels watching over her.

“We’ll slowly but surely get our cheeky little girl back, NOW time for answers as to how, why?,” she wrote.

The three-year-old girl was picked up by the Le Smiley’s Early Learning Centre bus at 9am from a Gracemere home (a suburb near Rockhampton) and taken to the child care centre.

Police allege she was the only one on the bus and was with two workers, a female bus driver and a worker.

Just before 3pm, a third worker went to do the afternoon school pick up run and found Nevaeh still strapped in her seatbelt and unresponsive, police allege.

CPR was administered and she was rushed to Rockhampton Hospital in a critical condition and flown to Queensland Children’s Hospital where she had to undergo a deep brain scan and was suffering from kidney failure.

Family said Nevaeh was given a five per cent chance of survival on Wednesday night but Nevaeh proved all the odds wrong and began breathing on her own on Thursday.

Her grandmother Pam Parker told The Courier-Mail on Thursday night Nevaeh was making good progress.

“I have spoken with her a couple of times today (Thursday) via FaceTime and chatted with her,” Ms Parker said.

“She truly has some special guardian angels watching over her … that’s the only way I can describe it right now.”

On Friday, Ms Parker told media Nevaeh had been eating ice-cream during their FaceTime chat.

“There are no words that I can find to describe the feeling, how I felt when I saw her the first time yesterday and last night, it was just amazing,” she said.

“My baby little girl, she’s a fighter.”

The hospital advised on Friday morning Nevaeh was in a stable condition.

Nevaeh’s father Shane Austin told A Current Affair on Friday night he had not been able to comprehend how his daughter had been left alone on a bus for six hours, especially since she was the only child collected that morning.

“She’s got her father’s voice, so she would have been loud, would have been screaming. I’m dumbfounded,” he said.

“All the people that walked past, no one noticed, I want to know why.”

Shane said that he has been told nothing by the childcare centre he trusted to look after his daughter.

“Nothing. I didn’t even get a phone call,” he said.

When they were initially told that Nevaeh had just a 5 per cent chance of survival, Mr Austin said the family had been “expecting the worst but hoping for the best,” and that her recovery had been a marvel to behold.

“She’s strong, she’s very strong. She’s happy, she’s moving around and being herself,” he said.

“It makes you all gooey inside.

“Thank the Lord, it is a miracle.”

Nevaeh's father Shane Austin speaks on A Current Affair on Friday night.

On Friday afternoon, the van which Nevaeh was found unresponsive in had been removed from the car park of the Gracemere child care centre.

On the afternoon of the incident, a police detective took photographs inside and outside of the van which sat parked next to the entrance of the Le Smiley’s Early Learning Centre.

Also by Friday afternoon, police tape had been removed from the entrance to the centre.

Police had declared the centre a crime scene and it was not able to operate until it was released.

Education Minister Grace Grace said her department took incidents like Nevaeh’s very seriously.

“My department will work with the Queensland Police Service to ensure, number one, that it is fully investigated and, number two, if there was any prosecution that is necessary, that I won’t hesitate to take those forward,” she said.

The incident is under an intensive police investigation and the centre remains closed as it was declared a crime scene.

No charges have been laid at this stage and police were not able to provide an update on Friday morning.

The Gracemere child care centre offers care for children aged zero to school age and is approved for 88 places.

In 2019, the centre was awarded an “exceeding National Quality Standard” which is the highest rating a centre can receive under the national law and regulations.

The ratings are based on seven areas.

The areas which received exceeding ratings were: children’s health and safety, staffing arrangements, relationships with children, collaborative partnerships with families and communities and governance and leadership.

Two areas received a “meeting” rating (the rating below exceeding) for education program and practice and physical environment.

The Gracemere centre was approved in 2011.

The company also owns two other kindergartens, which are in Gracemere and Rockhampton.

Centre director Michelle O’Rourke told families the Gracemere Early Learning Centre would be closed for the rest of the week and they would no longer be providing transportation in any form “from this point forward”.

No further updates have been provided to families at this time.