The last time I played with my son Luke, he had only just turned two, and was a healthy little baby, apart from the scratches on his face. I was only allowed 2 hours a week with him for the last six months of his short life which ended on the 18th of January, 2009. Luke died at the age of two years and four months.
Two days after this photo was taken his mother had her 2 hour visit. Only after her discovery of more severe fresh scratches, thiis time on his penis, and after Lukes's mum insisted, was he taken to a doctor for medical attention. These injuries and others, including severe burns, multiple scratches and bruising were a constant in Luke's life, while he lived with his Queensland Department of Child Safety sanctioned foster carer.
Luke was left with a fractured skull, bleeding on the brain, and a blood clot, unconscious for six hours. Only after I rang the foster home a third time that day to check on his wellbeing, was he properly looked at and an ambulance was rung. By the time he got to hospital his brain had been so starved of oxygen that half of my little Lukey Pukey's brain was dead.
The first time I rang the house I was informed Luke had surrered a head injury and gone to sleep. I asked her to be very careful with his head as he had received a knock on the head before. She was awful to me, a 74 year old who already had 3 foster children in her care, two boys aged 4 and 6, and a girl aged 9.
Luke had been brought back to the same household where he had been inflicted with constant injuries before, after he was kicked out of his previous foster home, the day before Christmas.
I was not informed of Luke being placed with this woman until my visit with him on the 5th o January, and immediately questioned how this elderly woman would be able to look after him properly.
I informed the child safety officer he was always injured whilst in her care and that I was worried he would be bullied by the older children. I begged, he was fine with me, a previous visit supervisor had also begged them to let me have my son back. They told her I was paranoid but she strongly disagreed, but they had decided I was not good enough to be a father long before this.
Everyone could see how much I loved my son, and he would not leave my side. He was terrified of being removed from me, as they had done before.
I had moved to Townsville, which was the last step for me in my battle against drugs. I aquired secure work and earnec over a thousand dollars a week. Half of this money went to the best solicitor I could find. Child safety Cairns rrefused to sign over the paperwork, Luke was taken away from his mother and I in Townsville, as child safety refused to let Luke stay while I was partnered with his mother. We argued too much.
God works in mysterious ways, and my new employer was a drug and alcoholl counselor of twenty five years, and three of his success stories were my work mates. Two of those were his sons.
I put my mind into my work, and every morning when my phone alarm would go off at 5 am, Luke's photo would come up and I woul;d smile and say, "For you Luke, anything."
Luke was my reason for getting up every morning, my light at the end ot the tunnel was to get Luke back. I stayed drug free for six months until I followed Luke back to Cairns. Child safety Townsville put Lukey in two diffewrent foster homes then in a third house in Cairns. His mother was told she would have Luke if she left me in Townsville We were never given a chance to mend out relationship, offered any help or counseling or referred to anyone for help. They had decided from the onset I was to go, and the child woulld go with his mother. I prayed for my son for twenty years. He is the miracle God gave to me.
I moved back to Cairns, so I could keep up my two hour visits, which was all I now lived for. I went to child safety Townsville every day to show them I was working and drug free, and to beg for my son back. I got the same look I received from child safety Cairns supervisors, the elite who answer to no one, a look of hatred. I continued with ATODS appointments, I received counseling and advice from centacare, took voluntary urine testsand kept a full time job.
I couldnt work in Cairns, as I was doing too many courses and counseling, Lifeline, Centacare, Relationships Australia, ATODS, Solicitors, it was a full time job trying to get my son back.
The day that DoCS (The Department of Child safety) took my little boy away. I gave Luke that silver childrens size drum kit the day they took him away. That is what reminded me that the woman from the Department of Child Safety was watching when we filmed this. I wanted to show her how good he was. At this stage I had him singing, playing piano, guitar and harmonica every day and he had begun to draw. His mum had gone missing for a week and Luke and I enjoyed each others company more than anything in the world. On the last morning when he woke up, he started talking like I had never seen him talk before, neither would I see him talking so happily again. He was taken from me five minutes after this video. The child safety woman did not give a reason for anything. She took him from his sleep, I was religous about his midday nap. The only people who ever woke him up, ever, during his midday nap was child safety. Twice. He was taken and put with his mother in housing supplied by some emergence housing place. They took him despite his mothers long list of complaints from the public about the neglect of Lukes two older siblings, both born 7 years apart from each other. In fact one womans shelter had reported her to DoCS and stated that all of her money was spent on Drugs and Alcohol and they were forced to feed the children. She was so drunk she asked them to ring an ambulance because she couldnt feel her legs. Another womans shelter kicked her out on the first night because she got so drunk. Now on this day when they took Luke away I was fine, as you see in the video I did with Luke where I played piano and Luke sang and also played piano. Once they rang me and asked me if I had been giving him lollies or soft drinks. I told them I always brought fruit and childrens drinks for the visits and enquired as to why they would ask this. She told me that he was very upset and disturbed after our visit together. Any fool could tell you that is because he missed the one person who always protected him, adored him, worshipped him, spoilt him rotten. Later they would take him from me, after I had been drug free and in a successful relationship with Lukes Mum as she had stopped abusing alcohol when we went to Townsville. He was taken away screaming by a policeman and shifted from foster home to foster home in Townsville, and then from foster home to foster home in Cairns, until he was left for six hours with a fractured skull while at one of those foster homes, this ultimately caused Lukes death. My two year old son was kicked out of his foster home the day before christmas. Now if I did that to my two year old, I would be in Jail. If I left my little boy there with a fractured skull, bleeding on the brain, a blood clot, scratches on the face and a finger that must have been slammed into a door to be that purple, I would be in Jail. Let me tell you how our government takes care of problems like these. Last year sixty three children died while under supervision of the department of child safety in Queensland alone. Deaths of children or young people known to the Department of Child Safety, age group by number, Queensland,
2004-05 to 2007-08 Age Group (in years)
2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08
< 1 7 16 23 21 1 to
< 2 5 4 11 5 2 to
< 5 6 6 7 7 5 to
< 14 8 15 9 17 14 to
< 18 10 10 7 13
Total 36 51 57 63
Source: Department of Child Safety Refer to the Glossary for definitions of data items contained in this table. This is what you call a cover up. Accidental 15, natural causes 20, unknown 12. How did 47 children that were known to child safety die last year. And not one of them are suspicious? Now this is what I was informed by police. There was nothing suspicious to report. That is when I wrote my Letter to the Coroner.
To find out more and offer your your support, go to http://www.lukesarmy.com
