One Queensland family has used the tragic death of its son to start a charity that provides care packages to those who have loved ones in the ICU. It was this time last year Ross and Kathy Abraham lost their 31-year-old son in an e-bike crash in Byron Bay.
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00:00It's almost a year to the day that Ross and Kathy Abraham got a knock on the door from
00:06police in the early hours of the morning to tell them their son Jaden had been in a serious
00:11e-bike accident.
00:12The 31-year-old Byron Bay tradie hit the curb and came off his bike, suffering a catastrophic
00:18brain injury and was airlifted to the Gold Coast University Hospital in a critical condition.
00:23His family rushed to the intensive care unit and didn't leave Jaden's side for four days
00:29when he passed away.
00:31During their stay in hospital, one of their friends dropped off a laundry basket full of
00:34essential supplies.
00:36The small gesture had a lasting impact and prompted them to start a charity, Beautiful Crazy, which
00:42provides care packages for families going through a similar ordeal.
00:46The care bags include water, a blanket, a toothbrush, toothpaste, pain relief medication, lip balm,
00:53wet wipes and snacks.
00:55It's not much, but the creature comforts are one less thing to worry about at a time of
00:59immense heartbreak and stress.
01:01For me, I'll never forget, I think it was day two, just having a splitting headache and
01:06you're actually making or trying to make end of life decisions and you just feel terrible
01:12and couldn't get Nurofen, couldn't get Panadol.
01:16It's like a hug in a bag is the best way to put it.
01:20People that are just in their deepest grief receiving something tangible, that doesn't
01:26take away the pain, it doesn't take away the loss, but it just helps them to be seen in
01:30those moments.
01:31The charity currently provides care bags to six hospitals, but the ultimate goal is to supply
01:36every major ICU in the country.
01:39To make that possible, Ross is embarking on a month-long 4,300-kilometre off-road mountain
01:45bike ride from Perth to Byron Bay to raise $258,000.
01:51That's enough for 4,300 care bags, one for every kilometre of the journey.
01:56Mr Abraham has called the Endurance Challenge the longest ride and hopes it will capture the
02:01country's attention and make his son proud.
02:04He would be cheering us on because he was a fan of Ned Brockman and Ned Brockman, as we
02:09know, ran across Australia a few years ago and so we're pretty sure that Jaden would be
02:13cheering me on and he could think of nothing better than putting me through more pain because
02:17of him.
02:18The solo ride will take him from the dusty red back roads of the outback to a small cross
02:23on the side of the road where Jaden lost his life.
02:26It's a journey he's likened to his long and winding road with grief.
02:31To be continued...
02:47To be continued...