The parents of a schoolboy who died in Tasmania’s jumping castle tragedy were told their son was ‘fine’ in the aftermath of the accident, only to discover he had been rushed to hospital with strangers while his family were just down the road.
Peter Dodt and seven of his classmates were celebrating their last day at Hillcrest Primary School in Devonport, in the state’s north, at about 10am on December 17 when a freak gust of wind hit the bouncing house they were playing in.
The 12-year-old was blown 10 metres in the air, along with Zane Mellor, 12, Jye Sheehan, 12, Jalailah Jayne-Maree Jones, 12, Addison Stewart, 11, and Chace Hamilton, 11 – who all sadly died in the disaster.
Beau Medcraft and Declean Brown, both 12, miraculously survived.
Weeks after the accident, Peter’s devastated mother Miranda McLaughlin discovered her hero son spent his final moments trying to save the lives of his schoolmates.
She told Daily Mail Australia how, in the confusion, the school had told her Peter was fine – and even urged her to collect him from campus – leaving him to go to hospital alone.
Peter Dodt (pictured) was 12 when he fell 10 metres from a jumping castle with seven of his classmates
Peter’s sister Chloe (pictured back, second right) went to school to collect him before the family knew he was injured
His parents, who had no idea of the tragedy that had unfolded, were just down the road at the time.
‘Both Andrew and I were only five minutes away from the school when it all happened – if I’d been told anything, we would have been there,’ his mother told Daily Mail Australia.
‘I could have had that time with my boy, but instead we were kept away while a stranger held his hand.’
The schoolboy was airlifted to hospital with a shattered pelvis, severe head trauma, and bleeding lungs – but his situation was so severe that doctors couldn’t stabilise him for long enough to give him an MRI.
Despite his catastrophic injuries, Ms McLaughlin said she only found out about the disaster on social media.
‘I saw some posts on Facebook saying there was an accident, and there was a message from the school telling parents to pick their kids up as soon as possible,’ she said.
The 41-year-old then phoned the school at 11.15am – more than an hour after the accident – and told them who her son was.
‘They told me to come and collect him as soon as possible,’ she recalled.
Peter Dodt is pictured with his mother, Miranda McLaughlin. Closed borders had kept the pair apart until just days before the tragedy
Victims pictured, left to right: Zane Mellor, Peter Dodt, Addison Stewart, Jye Sheehan, Jalailah Jayne-Maree Jones and Chace Harrison
Peter is pictured centre with his mum Miranda, and siblings Cassie (right), Chloe (left) and Dylan
‘I asked the school if he was okay and they said: “Yes you need to come and get him as soon as possible because there’s been an accident”.’
Ms McLaughlin had no idea how serious the incident was, so she and Peter’s father Andrew Dodt decided to send their 16-year-old daughter Chloe with the children’s grandmother to pick him up.
When the teenager arrived, she realised the situation was dire but had no idea her little brother was one of the victims.
He had even been the young hero who tried to save his classmates.
‘When the castle lifted, Peter started screaming at people to get off,’ his mother explained.
‘He was mister responsible.’
Peter’s parents were furious because they weren’t told he had been taken to hospital. Peter is pictured in the middle in the front row with his siblings and Miranda
Peter Dodt (pictured), 12, lived in Devonport, Tasmania, with his dad Andrew and his sisters before his life was tragically cut short
Police wouldn’t give his sister Chloe any information when she got to the school, so her father arrived and pushed past the police barrier at the school and found out his 12-year-old had been taken to hospital.
‘When I found out I thought, “he’s tough – he’ll be right and he’ll wake up. I’ve seen him fall over and get back up again like it was nothing”,’ his mother said.
Ms McLaughlin said she was initially told Peter was unconscious from the moment he hit the ground, but she later found out he was awake while he was transported to hospital – surrounded by strangers.
He was so scared that he bit a health worker on the arm to stop them from touching his broken body.
‘He wasn’t a violent boy at all – he was just so distraught at having people around him that he didn’t know,’ his mother explained.
Peter is pictured with his father Andrew and his sisters, Chloe (pictured right) and Cassie (pictured left)
Peter’s father Andrew attended the 12-year-old’s funeral alongside a row of guests riding motorcycles
Doctors tried to transport Peter from a hospital in Launceston to Royal Hobart via helicopter, but he started crashing on the flight so they turned around and brought him back.
The surgical team immediately opened him up to find the source of the bleed, but the blood in his lungs was blocking oxygen.
About 40 minutes later, his parents and Peter’s grandmother were called into a room and given the tragic news.
Ms McLaughlin said the Tasmanian Department of Education apologised to victims’ parents who were not told that their children were injured.
Peter Dodt tried to save the lives of his classmates before he fell 10 metre in a jumping castle tragedy
Peter is pictured (right) with his dad Andrew and his sisters Chloe and Cassie a few years ago
In an email seen by Daily Mail Australia, a member of the department said he ‘could not imagine’ how distressing it must have been not to know their son was critically injured.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted the department for comment.
Ms McLaughlin previously explained that she hadn’t seen Peter or her daughters Cassie and Chloe since last Christmas because they live with their father Andrew in Tasmania and state borders kept closing.
Peter’s father and a handful of other guests left the funeral on their bikes after the funeral service
Peter’s mother Miranda (pictured) is embraced by another guest as she mourns the loss of her son
Grieving loved ones comforted each other as they slowly trickled out of the chapel after releasing dozens of balloons
When restrictions finally eased in December, the mother-of-nine said she and her toddler Dylan jumped on a plane to Devonport the week before the tragedy.
‘Peter was full of life, always making people smile with his antics. His heart was bigger than the world,’ she said.
‘Words cannot explain what a beautiful soul he was or the loss we feel without him, forever in our hearts.’
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