Thursday 17th July

I was looking forward to that day, TJ had been in Brisbane for nearly 4 weeks and to be honest, I really missed him. Kinda funny really when all I normally do is complain about teenage behaviour when he is home! LOL! Anyway, I piled Lachlan and Elisabeth in the car and we went to pick him up, ducked into Cas for a minute and then came home. Lucy was desperate to get a copy of the "Big Girls" song and I promised her that TJ (who she dearly missed!) would download it for her before she got home from creche. Anyway, he did all that, put his bike back together (it went to Brisbane with him and therefore had to come home in a box) and asked if he could head up to the skate park. I said yes and normally I would say "Be good, Be safe" And for some reason I didn't on this day. After he left, I immediately felt guilty, I contemplated calling him but thought he would think I was a tad neurotic if I did! If I could turn back time, I honestly would. :(

About 20 minutes later I got a call from Paul, very calmly, he told me that TJ had been beaten up, knocked unconscious and had his bike worth around $2200 stolen from him.

I was hysterical, I was scared I was angry.

I grabbed the 2 littlies and raced up to the Police station. I called my mum on the way and I am sure that she had never heard me swear the way I did. I could the little bastards that did this to TJ every name under the sun, I was so hurt.

I arrived at the Police station and started filing a complaint, TJ walked in just minutes later and was a total sobbing mess. I broke down. It really pained me to see him so sad, his bike was his life, it was something he enjoyed doing and he had worked damn hard for the past year to pay for it all himself. He had custom built it and I could safely say that there would not be another of its kind in Australia.

He looked broken, his face was swollen and there was some bruising but it was his heart that was broken. All I could do was hold him.

TJ had never been exposed to violence, ever, he had never seen any at home and he had never been in a fight either. He had a great group of mates, they all look out for one another and they are just really well behaved boys. They are not into Alcohol, drugs, smoking or sex, they all have bikes that are of the same worth and they do what they love most...ride all day at the skate park. There are a couple of them, including TJ that are looking to go amateur Pro and are wondering how to go about getting sponsors.

We left all the details with the police and headed home, we dropped into the Lakes where we saw some of his mates and it was only then, almost 2 hours later that he settled down and stopped crying. Bless him, I felt so sorry for him.

We had to be back up to the police station that night and again the next day to give a statement. That was hard, listening to him recount the events of the previous day. I simply cannot believe that he was at the skate park for only a minute before these 2 boys rolled him and stole his prized possession. It was all over within 30 seconds. I am forever thankful that he had his helmet on as he fell backwards and hit the concrete.

Over the next couple of days we watched as TJ withdrew into himself, he stayed home and did not venture out at all, it was horrible. Normally he is such a free spirited funloving kid and now, well he had lost a little bit of his soul.

The weekend passed and we couldn't even get him to go to school. He was going to Darwin high and liked it but after one of his best mates left for Sydney, he wasn't too fussed. Now he was concerned he had no one to watch his back. I enrolled him in CSC and he seems a little happier, most of his mates go there and I really thinks he feels safe.

Where are we now? TJ positively identified these youths, the police have footage from McDonald's of them but at this point it seems nothing has been done about it. He is without his bike, although Paul helped him build one from bits and pieces that were here and some new parts they went an bought together but its not the same.

TJ spent Saturday night sobbing again and it was so terribly hard to listen to. It meant more tears from me and I feel in the past week I have turned into a bitter, twisted and angry woman. This is such a cruel and unfair lesson for a 15 year old to learn in life and i am sure it is one that he simply wont forget in a hurry.