Yahoo Lifestyle Jandamarra O'Shane 20 years on
Our nation shook its head in disbelief over the horrific attack on six-year- old Jandamarra O’Shane in a Queensland school playground almost 20 years ago.
The plucky young boy who touched our hearts on his road to recovery is now 25 and a father himself, to five-year-old Raupena, who started school this year.
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Janda, now aged 25.
Janda, as he prefers to be called, has been going over what happened on that fateful day – October 10, 1996 – a lot lately.
‘It’s something that is really popping up a lot in my head – I think because my son is now in school and coming up to the age I was when it happened,’ Janda says quietly. ‘I’ve now got an understanding of what my mother went through that day.’
Drifter Paul Wade Streeton, then 26, walked into the Cairns North State School playground with a five-litre can of petrol, tipped the fuel over Jandamarra and then set him on fire with a cigarette lighter.
Janda suffered burns to 70 per cent of his body and spent four months in the Royal Children’s Hospital in Brisbane.
Janda suffered burns to 70 per cent of his body.
Now he is a father, Janda says he can’t imagine hearing that kind of news about his son Raupena.
‘My son has definitely changed my life. He is so important to me.'
Remarkably, both Janda and his mum forgive Streeton and hope to one day have the chance to tell him that face-to-face.
‘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.'
To read the full story, check out this week's issue of New Idea.
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