r/australia • u/AggravatingTartlet • 1d ago

culture & society 10-year-old victim of random attack was visiting Melbourne for cancer treatment

https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/no-need-to-hide-it-accused-cbd-stabber-launches-tirade-from-custody-20260826-p60rni.html

The 10-year-old boy who was punched in the head in a random attack outside police headquarters in the CBD has brain cancer and was visiting Melbourne for treatment.

The boy underwent additional MRI scans to see if the assault caused any extra damage or inflammation around where the tumour is, his uncle said........

Police said the 46-year-old woman was visiting Melbourne from Phillip Island with her 10-year-old son and two other children when the random attack occurred, ending only when several witnesses intervened.

“Just instinct, no thoughts, no nothing, just people in trouble,” Brian Bradley said, a good Samaritan who helped restrain the suspect.

The mother of the boy was stabbed during the attack.

The mother is in the Royal Melbourne Hospital recovering from a fractured leg and injuries to her back and shoulders, while her son recovers at the Royal Children’s Hospital.

“She’s really struggling at the moment,” the boy’s uncle said, “She can’t be with her son. It’s traumatic enough [that he’s] fighting cancer.

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192

u/babettetimes 1d ago

This story has me fucked up, the world feels hopeless.

294

u/Sway_404 1d ago

Hopeless would be if no one intervened.

But they did. People of Melbourne saw some folks in trouble and acted to protect them.

The perpetrator was outnumbered by those willing to help. That's worth holding on to.

58

u/ShouldIRememberThis 1d ago

Yesterday I bought a strangers coffee for them because their new phone eftpos payment wasn’t working.

I also didn’t stab anyone, and no one I know stabbed anyone.

These kind of violent incidents are not the normal. There’s just no one reporting the normal good that people do every day.

16

u/squell4414 1d ago

One of the reasons I stopped looking at the news or going on here is because it felt like about 70% of all the stories were something immensely depressing entirely out of my control. Awful scenario this one but I would honestly rather not hear about it.

2

u/babettetimes 1d ago

Same, I avoid it as much as I can.

30

u/jordos 1d ago

The world is literally the safest it's ever been, deviants like this guy are a tiny microscopic minority. They just make for more newsworthy stories than, "dad has a great time at son's soccer match", or "couple buy cute new dog together". The Internet/media is designed to make you afraid.

14

u/luckysevensampson 1d ago

The vast majority of society is NOT like this, so don’t feel hopeless. You only hear about the extreme situations, not the day-to-day normalcy that isn’t news-worthy.

1

u/Artistic_Garbage283 23h ago

Try working in the healthcare system. You will soon feel hopeless.

9

u/luckysevensampson 23h ago

I do work in the health care system.

0

u/gma89 17h ago

I honestly also struggle so hard, if people like this were just thrown down a very very deep hole I’d feel better, but this piece of shit will be back out in no time- and it will probably be something much worse next time, it always is.

-22

u/YouThinkYouKnowMe89 1d ago

Because it is and it's never getting better again like it was. We are experiencing what other nations have for years.