The mum of an 11-year-old boy who visited a friend’s farm in rural Victoria and tragically died after falling from a quad bike is campaigning for life-saving regulations.
Sam Cason was having a sleepover in October, 2011, with a friend, also 11, on the family’s dairy farm and decided to help round up some cattle.
Sam’s mum explained to news.com.au that the boys found a cow trapped in some wire, and while Sam’s friend waited with the cow, Sam took off on the quad to get help – but never made it.
‘He didn’t hit a tree or a ditch, he was just found flat on his back and the quad bike next to him on its side,’ Mrs Cason explains.
He wasn’t wearing a helmet, and as he fell struck the back of his head. Killing him instantly.
Mrs Cason said she found out when the police came to her door that her eldest boy was gone – but they weren’t allowed to see him yet while police assessed the area.
‘That was hard to take, and if I had my time over I wish I’d just gone out there.’
Sam’s mum is now campaigning for stricter regulations for using quad bikes on private land – including banning children under 16 from riding them either as a driver or passenger.
‘I don’t want to stop kids from helping on farms, but there has to be a middle ground where kids are kept safe.’
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