06/01/2026
Life shouldn’t be taken for granted, that’s for sure.
So yesterday started like any other day, phone rings, someone has spotted a snake, I jump in my car and head off to work. Although, I had to attend a funeral in the afternoon after a dear friend sadly passed away unexpectedly. My son had work also, and due to the funeral time coinciding with his starting time, I was unable to take him to work. So he organised a lift with his best mate.
I was attending to an emergency call for an eastern brown snake inside a building, (the last call before I head off to the funeral) when my phone rang. I couldn’t answer the phone as I was literally tailing the eastern brown snake as the phone rang. I missed the call, but I was busy and thought I’ll call back in a minute. I made the snake safe and thought let me see quickly who called me.
The caller had left a voicemail recording which startled me a bit. It had said hi, I’m such and such from Life360. (Life 360 is an app that I use to keep track of the wer abouts of my children, and to make sure they are safe). The app has quite a few beneficial features like for example crash detection.
The caller said your son’s crash detection has been activated.
I quickly tried to call my son, but no answer. S immediately called my wife and told her what had happened, and I asked her to see if she could try to get in contact with him.
A few moments later, my wife called me back. She was hysterical. She said that they had been involved in a serious car accident, which had rolled off the side of the road after a kangaroo had hopped out in front of them. She told me that she had spoken to the boys, but that they were in serious danger. The car came to a stop on its roof and burst into flames. They were trapped inside this burning car.
At that moment Life 360 called me back and the person that I spoke to on the other end asked me if I had made contact. He also asked me if it was confirmed that they were involved in an accident. I replied yes, they are still trapped in the vehicle, and the car is on fire. He replied thank you for confirming that, I have already organised emergency services and they are currently on the way.
All that I was thinking was s**t I hope the boys are ok!
All I could picture at that moment was my boy, trapped in a burning car. I jumped in my car and headed that way. I just kept thinking I need to get there now. Please be safe.
When I arrived on the scene, I was relieved ato see both boys standing there, out and safe. It was by far, one of the most scariest day in my life. To think I was so close to never see or speak to him again.
Any way, I’m just so relieved that both boys made it out safe and are able to tell this story for many years to come.
Please remember to give your kids a great big hug as no one know what’s around the c
