EXCLUSIVE
The mother of the baby boy doused in scalding coffee has revealed the heartwarming moment her son laughed for the first time after his harrowing ordeal.
And she credits the beautiful sound for giving her – and her young family – the hope to carry on after already suffering several setbacks on his long road to recovery.
‘That little gurgle of his, it’s what gives me strength just to know that he’s going to get through all this and that he is going to be ok,’ she told Daily Mail Australia from her Brisbane home.
‘Hearing him laugh again for the first time absolutely melted my heart – it’s what gives me courage and positivity for the future.
‘I have never met anyone stronger than him. You wouldn’t even know that he’s going through all of this if you didn’t see the bandages or know that we were in hospital.
‘I love my baby boy – he is so amazing.’
Little Luka has undergone four surgeries following the sickening, unprovoked attack
Police say the man responsible for the attack has since fled overseas on his own passport
Little Luka had been on a picnic with his mother in Hanlon Park, in Brisbane’s inner south east, on August 27 when he was attacked by a stranger about midday.
The nine-month-old suffered life-threatening burns to his face, upper body and arms after being soaked with hot coffee in the unprovoked attack and has since undergone five operations in Queensland Children’s Hospital.
Although his neck and chest will likely be scarred, doctors believe they can minimise long-term damage through laser and needling therapies.
Luka’s mother said he had been released from hospital for the second time on Tuesday and had been recovering at home and even playing with his young sister.
‘We got back home yesterday,’ she told Daily Mail Australia.
‘We went home for a couple of days, initially, after the attack but then Luka ended up getting spiking fevers, and then it was gastro.
‘So we were back in hospital over the weekend, but we now we’re home again for the second time.
‘Luka’s face is healing really nicely and the little [coffee] splatters on his arms and and legs are healing too.
‘It’s mainly the neck, shoulder and chest, which is going to take a while, because they’re the full thickness burns.
Nine-month-old Luka suffered life-threatening burns after being attacked in a Brisbane park
‘He’s doing really well – he didn’t even want an nap yesterday because he was so happy to be home and playing with his sister.
‘He didn’t or smile really laughed in hospital, but he has been laughing, and walking and, smiling – and even fighting with his sister – since we have been home.
‘You know, all the normal stuff that he should be doing – he is just so happy being back at home with us – it’s really heartwarming.
‘The only thing that he struggles with is that he hates being poked and prodded now after being in hospital, and he’s a bit wary of certain people, but other than that, he doing so well.’
Luka’s mother said she didn’t regularly visit Hanlon Park and only went on August 27 so that her infant son could meet for a playdate with other friends.
She said their group had just begun to enjoy a picnic together when they were unexpectedly attacked.
‘I was only at the park for five minutes, if that, and I was taking photos of my son playing, and he came over from behind and threw this liquid onto him and ran away,’ she said.
‘I didn’t realise what it was at the time, but then Luka started screaming, and I could see his skin peeling off. I knew it was hot liquid.’
The incident occurred at the family-friendly Hanlon Park in Brisbane’s inner south-east
Within moments, she said the assailant had begun to flee.
‘My friend actually left her baby and me and started running after this guy, but she tripped, fell, and he was very, very fast,’ the baby’s mother said.
‘He knew exactly what he was doing, and he chose the right time.
‘I haven’t had any further from the police about where the man is – all we know is that he’s fled the country, that they know where he is – and that we trust the police to get this guy.’
She said she was still suffering repeated flashbacks of the attack on her son but was ‘trying not to think about it, because otherwise it will keep sending me into a negative spiral.’
Police tracked his movements after the attack to the southern Brisbane suburb of Tarragindi, where he changed his clothes outside a church.
He then caught a rideshare car into central Brisbane, before moving onto Caxton Street where the trail initially went cold until he was found to have fled the country.
Queensland Police Detective Inspector Paul Dalton said the accused was ‘aware of police methodologies’ and had been ‘conducting counter-surveillance activities’ in the days after the attack.
He eventually managed to slip out of Sydney Airport on his own passport undetected.
‘This is probably one of the most complex and sometimes frustrating investigations I’ve had to be involved in and lead,’ he said on Monday.
Detective Inspector Dalton said the man was clearly ‘aware of what we (the police) do to find people’ and that their efforts to catch him had been initally delayed after he was wrongly identified as a different man.
‘It wasn’t until September 1 that we were able to put a name to the face in the CCTV,’ he said.
‘Even at that stage, we probably didn’t have enough evidence to obtain a warrant.
‘We’ve since been to NSW and Victoria to gather that information, and the warrant has been granted.’
Det Insp Dalton said he knew which country the man had fled to, but could not share that information while the investigation was ongoing.
He said the man had been in and out of Australia since 2019 and had been ‘lawful’ each time.
‘There’s no adverse holdings that we can find on him in Australia,’ Det Insp Dalton said.
He said the man was in the country on a visa and had addresses ‘across the eastern seaboard’ but not in Queensland.
The accused had been an ‘itinerant’ worker in Queensland, NSW and Victoria and police had interviewed some of his former colleagues.
Luka mother says she has been suffering flashbacks of the horrendous ordeal
Det Insp Dalton said the attack was the ‘most cowardly’ he had witnessed in his career.
‘A young mother and a baby sitting on the ground and you are allegedly approaching them from behind,’ he said.
‘Can you think of anything more vulnerable than that? And to take advantage of that? You’re probably right, it’s one of the most disgusting ones I’ve come across.’
The senior cop vowed that he would not let up the investigation until the man is caught.
‘I’ve got 30 detectives working for me. They are devastated that they missed this person by 12 hours,’ he said.
‘I think only the family would be more upset about that.’
He encouraged anyone with any information to come forward.
‘People may feel safe now that this person has fled Australia, to actually come forward to police,’ he said.
‘I encourage them to do that. There’ll be no judgement on you whatsoever.’
The man was described as being a small build with tanned skin. He was wearing a black hat, glasses, a shirt and shorts at the time of the attack.
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