Tragic loss of nine-month-old sparks special donations

IN THE hours and days after Kathy and Scott Wockner tragically lost their nine-month-old boy Lucas, they hit upon a way of giving back to those who had helped.

SPECIAL MOMENT: Kathy Wockner (centre), alongside paramedics Wendy Aitken (left) and David Hatchett, two of the ambulance staff who worked on her son Lucas when he was found unconscious and not breathing. . Picture: Matthew Newton

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IN THE hours and days after Kathy and Scott Wockner tragically lost their nine-month-old boy Lucas, they hit upon a way of giving back to those who had helped them in their time of need.

Not wanting a house full of flowers, they instead asked people to donate to a GoFundMe page.

Yesterday at Highfields, Mrs Wockner met some of the Queensland Ambulance Service paramedics who allowed her family to say goodbye to their precious boy, and thanked them by donating $1000 of the more than $17,000 raised in the wake of Lucas' death.

The rest of the money will be donated to other organisations who helped the family during Lucas' journey.

After Lucas was found unresponsive and not breathing at his childcare centre in May, paramedics Stephen Smith, David Hatchett, Wendy Aitken and Brad Kirby managed to resuscitate and rush him to Toowoomba Hospital in a critical condition.

Lucas Elliot Wockner died unexpectedly at nine months.

He was airlifted to Lady Cilento Children's Hospital where he passed away peacefully, with his family having been able to say their goodbyes.

"There was nothing that we could do differently to help Lucas but obviously that time that we had to process, and the time we had to bring our family together to say goodbye to him was really important to us," Mrs Wockner said.

She said while she didn't get a chance to meet the paramedics who resuscitated her son on the day, she realised they were "absolutely instrumental" in getting him to hospital and performing CPR.

Mrs Wockner's donation was used to purchase a piece of equipment that will provide increased realism for training simulations.

She said she had been overwhelmed by the generosity of friends, colleagues, acquaintances, and even complete strangers, and that for now it was just "one step forward at a time".

"Ultimately we still want to be able to move on and live a happy life," she said.

"We have a three-year-old daughter who needs us as well. We're doing everything we can to stay positive and keep moving forward."

Originally published as Tragic loss of nine-month-old sparks special donations