- Tasmanian mum Georgie Burt lost her 12-year-old son, Zane, in the 2021 Hillcrest Primary School jumping castle disaster that killed six children.
- Despite the operator being found not guilty, she continues to fight for stronger safety laws and accountability.
- Nearly four years on, she honours Zane’s memory and the other children who tragically lost their lives through advocacy.
Here Georgie,32, tells her own story in her own words.
Tearing open the wrapping paper my son Zane gasped at the new PlayStation VR headset inside.
‘Thanks Mum,’ he said, his magnetic smile lighting up the room, delighted at his 12th birthday present. Tucking into his cowboy birthday cake afterwards he was so happy.
Zane and his younger brothers, Max, then eight, and Link, two, were the centre of my universe.
Having fallen pregnant with Zane at 15, he was my first true love. Despite me being so young, my mum, Jane, was supportive and doted on my boy like one of her own.
As Zane grew older, he became obsessed with cowboys, dinosaurs and Transformers – his room plastered with posters and models. Cheeky and loud, he always had has us in stitches of laughter.
And he adored his baby brothers. Zane was my little safety officer. He’d walk carefully with Max after school to the car, looking both ways over and over again before crossing the road.
And although he adored video games, he loved playing with his brothers and walking his dachshund, Peanut, on the Devonport foreshore.
He also enjoyed nature and fishing trips with my dad, Richard, and pops, John.
Zane loved my partner Andrew, then 42, and happily gave us his blessing when we said we were thinking of getting married.
In December 2021, I was bursting with pride as Zane collected his certificate on stage at Hillcrest Primary School, Tas, during his Year 6 graduation ceremony.
Although school wasn’t his thing, he’d tried his hardest and was adored by all his teachers.
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‘I’m so proud of you,’ I told him.
On our way to school the next morning, we picked up some brekkie at Macca’s to celebrate his last day. As I pulled up to the school gates, we spotted a jumping castle on a ute ready to be set up as part of the school’s end of year festivities.
‘Love you. Have a good last day,’ I said, kissing Zane and Max goodbye.
‘Love you, Mum,’ Zane said, closing the door.
Afterwards, I headed to my mum’s place with Link for coffee with Mum and my sister, Elizabeth, then 16. Then around 10.30am, my phone rang.
‘There’s been an accident at the school. There’s police and ambulances everywhere,’ a friend said.
In a blind panic, leaving Link with Mum, Elizabeth and I sped to the school. When we arrived, there were frantic parents who’d come to collect their kids scattered everywhere.
Concerned my boys were in danger, I didn’t stop to ask what had happened, I just ran towards their classrooms where children were waiting safely.
I collected Max, before going to find Zane.
But he wasn’t in his class or outside. Desperately worried, finally, we found a teacher who explained there’d been an accident on the oval, injuring several kids. A freak dust devil – a strong short-lived whirlwind – had come out of nowhere, launching the jumping castle into the air.
I was chilled to hear that children had been inside the inflatable.
Please don’t let Zane be one of them, I silently prayed.
Leaving Max with Elizabeth, I raced in tears to the oval where paramedics were attending to injured kids.
When I desperately showed a photo of Zane, one of the officers stopped me. ‘You need to go to the Mersey Community Hospital,’ he told me.
Blind panic twisted in the pit of my stomach.
Had Zane been hurt? On the drive there, with Andrew following, I tried to convince myself my baby was okay.
What’s the worst that can happen on a jumping castle? I thought.
But after waiting hours at the hospital, I began to lose hope.
‘He’ll be okay,’ Andrew soothed.
‘What if he’s not?’’ I cried.
Just then police arrived and confirmed my worst fears. ‘I’m sorry,’ they said, explaining Zane had died at the scene.
Paramedics tried to resuscitate him, but my beautiful boy had passed away from multiple injuries caused by falling from a height.
I screamed as agonising pain stabbed in my chest – it was incomprehensible. I’d waved off Zane for the last day of school like millions of mums all over the world. Now he’d never be coming home.
Completely numb, I couldn’t bear to go home, staying at Mum’s instead.
I screamed as agonising pain stabbed in my chest
Telling Max and Link their big brother was gone was horrific.
In the days that followed, Mum packed up my house. I knew I could never go back there without Zane.
I learned that after the jumping castle launched 10 metres into the air, it flew more than 60 metres across the oval.
Horrifically, five other children – Addison Stewart, 11, Jye Sheehan, 12, Jalailah Jayne-Maree Jones, 12, Chace Harrison, 11, and, Peter Dodt, 12 – all died in the tragedy.
I grieved for them all.
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Zane’s funeral the next week was heart-wrenching.
We covered his blue coffin in pictures of gaming consoles and on top placed his beloved PlayStation VR headset that I’d gifted him just weeks earlier on his 12th birthday. I also placed a gaming controller and video games inside.
Shaking I said, ‘You grew up with me, held my hands and kissed my face in all the hard times. You were my man of the household. My protector, my strength.’
Our community rallied around us, dropping plates of food to our door. Letters and messages of love from all over Australia and the world poured in.
Many young people Zane had gamed online with got in touch, offering their condolences. In the midst of pain it was comforting to know Zane had touched people all over the globe.
That Christmas I sadly gave Zane’s unopened Nintendo Switch to his brothers.
At my grandparents Colleen and John’s house, we placed a photo of Zane along with a bowl of his favourite roast potatoes on the table and wept.
I treasured his unopened advent calendar and the last chocolate he never got to eat.
Still I couldn’t accept Zane was gone. But the stark reality that Zane would never grow up to have a job, get married, or have his own children set in.
Talking to other bereaved families from the tragedy helped us feel united.
The next year, in September 2022, I eloped and married my rock, Andrew, carrying a photo of Zane on my bouquet.
Determined to turn pain into power, I lobbied for Tasmanian industrial manslaughter laws, even meeting with the premier, so no other family would suffer.
I was pleased when they were introduced in October 2024.
Zane would never grow up…or have his own children
Nearly two years after Zane’s death, in November 2023, the jumping castle operator Taz-Zorb – run by owner Rosemary Anne Gamble – was charged with failing to comply with a health and safety duty, in a way that exposed the children to a risk of death or serious injury.
Last November, Rosemary Anne Gamble appeared at Devonport Magistrates Court after pleading not guilty. It was revealed that only four pegs were used to anchor the castle rather than the recommended eight, as that was all the Chinese manufacturer, East Inflatables, had supplied.
But the jumping castle wasn’t compliant with Australian standards and a manual hadn’t been provided by the manufacturer.
Magistrate Robert Webster found Rosemary Gamble not guilty, deeming the dust devil that lifted the castle was ‘unforeseeable’ given it was a relatively still and sunny day prior to the freak weather change, and her actions ‘made no difference to the ultimate outcome’.
Devastated, I felt cheated. I wanted someone to be held accountable for the fact that Zane and his school friends would never be coming home.
Nearly four years on, I’m still struggling to accept Zane is gone. And watching my boys grow up without their big brother is heart-wrenching. In the quiet times I feel him with me – in the ache in my chest, or a song on the radio.
Zane would’ve been 16 this November, and instead of a party, Andrew, 46, Max, 12, Link, six, and I will visit his grave with his favourite rainbow cake.
I’m pleased there’ll soon be a Memorial Park at Coles Beach to remember Zane and the other children who were lost.
I’ll never stop fighting for change. I want to see binding enforceable regulations around land borne inflatables, regular inspections, and real consequences if they’re breached.
We are still awaiting a coronial inquest, and us families affected have launched a civil class action against the state of Tasmania and Rosemary Gamble. I want justice for my boy and his friends.
I know I’ll see Zane again one day, but until then I won’t let him and the other children’s deaths be in vain.
If you have been affected by this story and are struggling and need support, call Lifeline for free 24/7 on 13 11 14 (Aus) or 0800 543 354 (NZ).
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