- Laura’s three-year-old son Flynn was killed in a tragic farm buggy accident, shattering her young family and ending her marriage.
- Pregnant at the time, Laura faced overwhelming grief while supporting her daughters through the loss of their protective big brother.
- Years later, rescuing an orphaned wombat joey named Wanda helped bring joy and emotional healing back into their home.
- Inspired by her journey, Laura has written a children’s book and is launching a foundation to support farming families after child loss.
Here Laura O’Neill, 37, Buchan, Vic tells her own story in her own words.
Watching as my girls, Hollie, then five, and Penelope, two, feed a bottle of formula to the wombat joey, my heart warmed. After rescuing the orphan from the side of the road in 2022, the girls’ named her Wanda.
It was the first time I’d seen Hollie so happy since the tragic passing of my son, Flynn, three years earlier.
The day we lost him started like any other.
Pulling on his brown cowboy boots, Flynn, then three, helped Hollie, two, put on her pink ones.
‘Hold my hand,’ he said, guiding her outside to our vegie garden.
It was October 2019, and my husband Jake, then 33, and I had recently moved to a 3000 acre cattle farm in Gippsland, Victoria.
As the big brother, Flynn was always looking out for his little sister. And as I was seven months along with a second daughter, Flynn couldn’t wait to have another sister to dote on.
‘That’s my girl,’ he’d say, rubbing my growing belly.
After Flynn watered the vegie patch, I loaded both kids into the car to meet Jake and two friends who were working in a paddock.
After the kids had a quick play, I buckled Hollie back into her car seat to go and get morning tea from the house.
‘Can I stay with Daddy, Mama?’ Flynn asked, his ocean blue eyes sparkling.
‘I won’t be long,’ I smiled.
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Hollie and I were on our way back in the car around 10 minutes later, when I spotted our friends rushing towards us. ‘There’s been an incident!’ they screamed. ‘We’re calling an ambulance!’
Heart pounding, I raced down the paddock praying it wasn’t Flynn.
Pulling up near the shed, I saw the buggy upturned on its side. Horrifyingly, Flynn lay motionless as Jake carried him inside and placed him on a table.
There was no time to ask questions as one of our friends, who’d arrived back, began CPR. Taking over, tears streamed down my face as I willed my boy to open his eyes.
‘There’s been an incident!’ they screamed. ‘We’re calling an ambulance!’
In shock, we didn’t speak as we took turns trying to bring life back to Flynn, while the others shielded Hollie from the trauma.
Two agonising hours later, when the ambos arrived, they checked his pulse. But it was too late. My beautiful Flynn was already gone.
I felt numb.
Police arrived and spoke to Jake about what’d happened. ‘I’ve killed my boy,’ I heard him admit to an officer.
Flynn and I were taken by ambulance to the hospital in Bairnsdale, three hours away. There, Flynn was placed in a private room with a bed.
Cradling him tight, I stroked his golden locks and pressed one last kiss on his forehead before the coroner took him away.
If only I’d taken Flynn with me, he’d still be alive, I tortured myself.
Pulling up near the shed, I saw the buggy upturned on its side.
The next day Jake was arrested and charged with dangerous driving causing death, after police determined he’d been doing a burnout in the buggy when it flipped.
My little boy hadn’t been wearing a seatbelt when he was thrown from the vehicle, resulting in fatal injuries.
I couldn’t believe Jake could be so careless with our child’s life, and ended our marriage.
When my daughter, Penelope, was born six weeks later, I was in the depths of despair.
Hollie, who was missing her protector, felt it too.
‘Flynn was in an incident,’ I explained gently, reminding her of the importance of wearing a seatbelt.
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But we kept him at the forefront of our minds in everything we did. And whenever we saw sunflowers, which reminded us of Flynn, it felt like he was close by.
‘He’s always watching over you from above,’ I reminded my girls.
The following month I relocated to Buchan, Vic. As locals learned about my story, care packages began arriving on my doorstep – homemade meals, nappies and baby items. With no family near by, I felt so supported by my new community.
Three years later, I was driving through town when I spotted a wombat on the side of the road that’d been hit by a car. Pulling over, I watched as a joey crawled out from behind its mum’s body.
Taking off my jumper, I picked up the frightened baby and put her in the car.
‘You’re okay little one,’ I smiled.
Back at home, Hollie and Penelope doted on their newest sibling. From bottle feeding, to bathtime and endless cuddles, the girls helped nurse Wanda back to health.
And in turn, little Wanda helped heal our hearts, as Hollie’s contagious laugh filled our home, like it once had with Flynn.
Finally, in April 2023, Jake William Rabbidge, then 36, was sentenced in the County Court of Victoria to 20 months in jail after pleading guilty. Following his release, he moved back to his home country of New Zealand.
I’ve since found love again with Marty, 47, who I met through friends. Together we welcomed a girl, Maggie, in June last year.
Though she and Penelope never got to meet Flynn, I constantly remind them about their protective big brother and how special he was.
Inspired by the joy Wanda brought to our family, I released a children’s book called, Wanda, the Story of a Wombat and a Wee Girl in August this year.
All proceeds will be donated towards Flynn’s Legacy – a foundation I’m starting to support other farming families who experience child loss.
These days, Wanda is fully grown and comes and goes as she pleases.
‘We missed you!’ Hollie, now eight, Penelope, five, and Maggie, one, beam whenever she stops by.
While nothing will bring Flynn back, I feel him with me wherever I go.
I know he’d be so proud of the life we’ve built for ourselves.
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