An actress has revealed her plans to "cryogenically preserve" her 13-year-old son after he sadly took his own life following "relentless bullying".
Known for her roles in Aussie productions like Blog Party and Clublife, and as the founder of the Sydney International Women’s Film Festival, Clare McCann took to Instagram to announce the devastating loss of her only child.
“It’s with shattered hearts that we share the passing of my beautiful son, Atreyu McCann. He was the brightest light in my world — kind, creative, and endlessly loved,” McCann wrote.
“Right now, we are grieving a loss that words can’t hold. Please give us time and space as we process this unimaginable pain.”
But what’s stunned her 62,000 followers even more is McCann’s next move, a desperate attempt to raise $200,000 in just seven days to cryogenically preserve Atreyu’s body.
“All I really need to say is how much I really need these funds to give my son what he wanted,” she told news.com.au. “About six or seven years ago we started talking about the after life and heaven and I talked to him a little about cryogenics, and he told me he would like to do that.
“Over the years we talked about that that’s what we would want to do together, never separate. He deserves a second chance to live the life he wanted.”
McCann painted a vivid picture of the futuristic dreams she and Atreyu once shared: “We would talk about maybe we would be revived in a future so far ahead that humans have the ability to swim under water with extended breathing with the dolphins and the whales, or fly, or live on another planet … we would talk and dream about to so much.”
The fundraiser she launched reads: Atreyu “tragically took his own life” and McCann is “urgently raising $200,000 to cryogenically preserve his body within the next 7 days — or the opportunity for him to live again will be lost forever.”
At the time of writing, her GoFundMe had raised AU$6,565 ($4,232 USD).
According to McCann, all funds will go towards “immediate cryopreservation and legal transportation, required medical and legal services for the procedure,” and “a trust in (Atreyu’s) name to protect his legacy.” Any excess funds will be used for “anti-bullying education and reform.”
McCann added: “The only comfort I can find right now is that this must have been our purpose.”
She revealed her son’s torment began as soon as he started high school at South Sydney High School on February 7. Previously home-schooled, Atreyu “was bullied from the day he started,” McCann claimed.
“It was just relentless. He started to withdraw he wouldn’t speak to me about all the things but I was still advocating for him every day,” she said. “They wouldn’t expel or suspend it’s wrong when there are so many incidents in schools. The school system fails children.”
She added: “He was just 13. He deserved a future. If the school and government had acted when I asked he might still be alive.
“I begged for help. I submitted complaints. I shared medical records. No one listened.”
McCann described his passing in a second Instagram post, calling it her “worst nightmare.”
“It breaks my heart beyond what words can compare to share that in a moment of unbearable pain Atreyu took his own life. This was not his fault,” she wrote. “He had suffered horrendous amounts of bullying.”
NSW Deputy Secretary of Public Schools Deborah Summerhayes expressed condolences: “The Department of Education is providing counselling and other wellbeing support to students and staff who require it.”
Deputy Premier and Minister for Education Prue Car called it a “tragic loss,” saying: “No parent should go through the distress of losing a child in this way.”
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