Almost 20 years on from a life-threatening attack, Jandamarra O’Shane is sharing his harrowing story of survival and a glimpse into the new phase of his life.
It was 10 October 1996 when the nation heard the tragic story of a then six-year-old being doused in petrol and set alight while playing in his Cairns North schoolyard for no apparent reason.
Now father to a five year old himself, Janda says that the event is one that has been popping up in his mind a lot lately.
“It’s something that is really popping up in my head,” he told New Idea. “I think it’s because my son is now in school and coming up to the age I was when it happened, I’ve now got an understanding of what my mother went through that day.”
Speaking of his five-year-old Raupena, O’Shane continues, “my son has definitely changed my life. He is so important to me.”
Following the vicious attack, Janda suffered burns to 70 percent of his body and was not expected to live. Years of hospital stays, skin grafts and other surgeries followed for Janda, the nation always rooting for his recovery.
At the time of the attack, Australians found it impossible to understand how the culprit, 26-year-old Paul Wade Streeton could possibly do such a thing to a child, and what his motive could possibly be.
At the time of sentencing, Janda’s aunt and New South Wales magistrate Pat O’Shane publicly stated Streeton’s life sentence was too harsh, which shocked many.
But for both Janda and his mother Jenni Patterson, time has healed their wounds, with the two saying that they forgive Streeton for his crime and hope to one day tell him.
“I will decide what is right for me and I do know, when the time comes, if it does happen, it is going to be my closure,” Janda continues.
“The way I see it, I don’t want to hold any negativity when I’m trying to start a new chapter in my life,” Janda told NITV in 2014. “It’s always looked at as a day of survival and triumph.”
*lead image via NITV.
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