‘Expected him to die’: Young man on brink of death after brutal bashing
Premier Steven Miles will meet with the mother of a man beaten half to death, who says the government is oblivious to the dark underbelly of youth crime.
Police & Courts
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Steven Miles will meet with a mother whose son was brutally bashed by young thugs after she blasted the government’s “weak” youth crime laws.
Ella Wilesmith’s son has been fighting for his life for five months after his head was caved in, face shattered, brain damaged, lung punctured and ribs broken in an attack by young thugs.
Benjamin Cant has finally woken from a coma after being found by a security guard in a pool of blood near the Ashleigh Barty Tennis Court in Springfield Lakes, west of Brisbane.
The autistic 37-year-old is now having to learn to walk and talk again.
The Premier immediately contacted Ms Wilesmith on Saturday morning when he learned of her son’s story.
The pair are set to meet face to face this week.
Ms Wilesmith, said Mr Cant, who prefers to exercise at night in the peace and quiet, was on one of his evening strolls when he was allegedly attacked by the youths on March 26.
“From the first call, I lost track of the different surgeons that kept calling asking for my consent to operate,” Ms Wilesmith said.
A punctured lung, fractured thyroid cartilage, damaged aorta, shattered facial bones, bleeding on the brain – the list of Benjamin’s life-threatening injuries was long.
“One surgeon said his right cheek bone was the consistency of ground glass,” Ms Wilesmith said.
“He needed neurosurgery eight times to help drain the liquid from the brain, because his brain had so much swelling. He went for a walk and nearly lost his life.”
Mr Cant had only recently moved to Springfield Lakes and had enjoyed his night walks when there were less people around to trigger his sensory sensitivities.
Police were able to track his movements via security footage and, following a public appeal for information, have charged a 14-year-old local boy with acts intended to cause grievous bodily harm, personal violence and deprivation of liberty.
The teen has been held in custody and is due to appear before Ipswich Children’s Court in September.
Police investigations into the attack are ongoing.
Mr Cant’s recovery has been challenging, marked by brain infections, seizures and intense treatments.
Doctors removed pieces of his skull and during one particularly bad turn, and police visited his bedside, expecting him to die.
Months of watching her son slip in and out of comas took a large toll on Ms Wilesmith.
There were times she questioned her ability to make medical decisions for her son due to her own exhaustion.
But Ms Wilesmith refuses to allow him to become another crime statistic and says there is a side to victims of crime stories not often spoken of – life in the ICU and the assault of grief felt by their families.
“I watched people learn to walk, I watched them learn to eat, wipe themselves, I watched people almost die,” she said. “It was a scary underworld.
“I challenge Premier Steven Miles and Youth Justice Minister (Di Farmer) to visit the ICU and just sit there and watch, and not just for a few hours with the cameras but come back time and time again as we do and then go and make the laws.”
While her son is now considered stable – a word Ms Wilesmith has trouble using – she said the state’s youth crime laws were too weak and children needed better deterrence and consequences.
“I’m just a mum, like any parent that wants to protect their kid, no matter how old they are – that never goes away,” she said.
“If I could have stepped in front of him and taken every blow, I would have.
“There were families in that ICU who weren’t as fortunate as I was and still don’t know what happened to their child or love done.”
Mr Cant is now learning to speak again and spoke his first words with a voice box.
While he still has a feeding tube connected to his stomach, he ate his first meal of mashed vegetables on July 26.
He will live with a permanent brain shunt to prevent further damage.
Opposition Leader David Crisafulli said violence was escalating and reiterated the LNPs plan to try children as adults for serious crimes if elected in October.
“Where to leave your keys, where to park at a shopping centre, whether or not you can go out for a walk at night, these are not normal conversations,” he said.
“The feeling of ease has to change.”
“My son is a living miracle. He defied death and the many thoughts and opinions of his fabulous medical staff who did not think he would recover the way he eventually did,” Ms Wilesmith said.
“The emotional trauma can’t be quantified but the cost of his treatment, all of those surgeries, the specialists, the scans, it would be astronomical.
“I wonder whether all that taxpayer money could have been better spent on preventing crime.
“We’re past disgust, we’re past outrage, we’re past anger, it’s time for action. Police are doing their job, it’s time for the government to step up.”
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