Meet the miracle kid from Moree
Jack Rae was on his way home on the evening of the 18th October when his motorbike collided with a truck.
His mother, Vicki, was at the accident site when the ambulance arrived – the paramedic was her cousin.
“Only the week before my eldest son had had a car accident and hit a power pole, and she was at that as well, and he was ok. We were very lucky. She was quite easy talking with me, and said ‘jump in the ambulance Vic I’ll take you up’. With Jack it was different, it was just ‘get out of the road'. So I knew this was serious”.
Jack arrived at John Hunter Hospital by helicopter with horrific internal injuries and broken bones. He had collapsed lungs, bruised heart and kidneys, lacerated liver and spleen, cracked pelvis, broken femur and arm, 11 broken ribs, fractured spine and ankle.
When Vicki and Rob arrived hours later, Jack was already in surgery. Professor Balogh broke the news to Vicki and Rob that Jack’s injuries were too horrific and he was not going to make it.
Vicki said, “He’ll fight all the way, just give him a chance.” And fight Jack did, his recovery so miraculous that he is now known as “The Miracle Kid from Moree”.
Vicki and Rob have stayed at Ronald McDonald House Newcastle since the first night when they arrived in such traumatic circumstances. “We were coming back to Ronald McDonald House and having a rest, and then going again,” Vicki said. “Then the staff said we could have breakfast, and we asked how much do we have to pay? And they said, no you don’t have to pay. It’s just been amazing.”
“The House makes it so much easier, and takes a lot of the stress off you,” Vicki said. “We just can’t believe the generosity of what happens here. We were able to bring Jack over for Meals From the Heart last night, which was just wonderful to have community groups come in and cook dinner for everyone.”
“I thought Ronald McDonald House was just for newborns and kids with cancer, I was surprised that it was for any child under 18 years who is in hospital.”
The Rae Family have already been given the all clear to go home for a few weeks so The Miracle Kid from Moree can soak in the healing artesian thermal waters that his home town is famous for.