Mitchell loved the water, says mum

MITCHELL Edwards had great plans for today. It was to be the start of a three-week South Australian adventure with his mother for the 15-year-old.

Marie O’Brien with her son Mitchell Edwards.

MITCHELL Edwards had great plans for today.

For it was to be the start of a three-week South Australian adventure for the 15-year-old who had not seen his mother in 12 months.

Instead, 35-year-old Marie O'Brien left Adelaide to visit “Mitchy-moo's” home and his favourite place in the world, Wappa Falls.

Nambour High School student Mitchell drowned at the Yandina swimming hole on Wednesday.

Inconsolable, Ms O'Brien returned to the “pretty” Wappa Falls yesterday afternoon to place flowers in memory of her youngest child.

Silence, except for the splash of a waterfall, had replaced the noise of rescuers, volunteers and media.

“I see why he loved it here. It is so, so pretty,” she said, but her gaze was drawn to a nearby plaque.

The plaque is a memorial to Dominic Hayes, 15, who drowned at the flooded swimming hole almost exactly three years ago.

“If I had known that another boy had lost his life here I would have certainly said something, but I did not know,” Ms O'Brien said.

She said from the moment her youngest son was born he was a water baby.

He went on to be a life saver and was part of an elite swimming squad for young teenagers in South Australia.

Mitchell moved to the Sunshine Coast less than two years ago to live with his father, Nambour General Hospital staff member Damon Edwards.

Mitchell's older brother Keegan lived with mum, Marie. Ms O'Brien arrived on the Sunshine Coast with her partner Jason, her mother Annette and a nephew.

The family have found comfort in the arms of strangers, with the Grand Mercure Twin Waters and Ken Mills Maroochydore digging deep during a time of need.

Plans are under way for a memorial at Wappa Falls towards the end of the year, when friends and family of Mitchell will gather to pay their final respects to “a loveable ratbag”.

“He loved being outdoors and doing things with his hands,” Ms O'Brien said.

“He was always fixing things up and he loved the water.”

Mitchell's grandmother Annette said her grandson was never more at ease than in the water.

“When he was a tiny baby, all his mum had to do when he was crying was put him in the bath and he would stop,” the grandmother-of-nine said.

“He was fearless like a bear. Nothing worried him.”

Both women said they would never want to see Mitchell's favourite place closed, but something needed to change.

Ms O'Brien said a date for her son's funeral will not be decided until Monday.

Originally published as Mitchell loved the water, says mum