It was a project between a devoted dad and his young son. After a $400 Bunnings trip and a little elbow grease, the family’s home in Caboolture, in south-east Queensland, had new plants, fresh mulch and sparkling sense of accomplishment.
But just months later, a horrific motorcycle accident left Ayden Ryan with “catastrophic” leg injuries, leaving him unable to run and play with his kids —or tend to his slowly deteriorating garden.
In February 2024, the father-of-two was leaving a job interview, stoked at the fact that he had just landed a position as a realtor.
“The last thing I remember is walking out of the real estate and looking inside my helmet and I was like, ‘Yes, I got the job, I’ll take the extra five-minute scenic way home and I’ll go and tell the kids and the missus that I got it’,” he told Yahoo News Australia.
“And then I don’t remember anything from there.”
Ayden was riding his motorbike home when he was hit by a car, resulting in severe damage to his leg.
While he is able to walk with a cane and “slowly bend”, he said he struggles to keep up with his young kids, aged eight and two.
“I don’t get to do anything that I used to do. I don’t have any sense of life that I once had. It’s all been taken away from me,” he said.
“I’m a 34-year-old young man. I should be out there wrestling and running around with my kids, but I can’t run, I can’t do anything.”
Ayden said Christmas time in particular takes a mental toll.
“It’s this time of year, you know, where you’re meant to get out and do things with the family, and it’s like, I can’t do anything,” he said.
Police officer stays by Ayden’s side through traumatic ordeal
On the day of the accident, the first officer to arrive on the scene was Sergeant Amanda Bourne.
While Ayden doesn’t remember anything from the incident, Sgt Bourne stayed by his side while he received life-saving treatment from paramedics in the middle of the road.
Sgt Bourne told Yahoo News the scene was “pretty confronting” but she did her best to keep Ayden distracted by talking about his family. She was also the one to inform Ayden’s wife, Simone, of the accident.
“Those first interactions with both of them, it was clear, like they are such a close family,” she said.
“They care for each other. I remember Simone describing him as her ride or die. I just resonated with them.”
Six months after the accident, Simone invited Sgt Bourne to meet Ayden at their home, and she has continued to be a pillar of support for the family ever since.
Local police department helps family find their Christmas spark
Last week, Sgt Bourne and 11 members of her team decided to chip in and give the garden a much-needed makeover.
With a few local businesses offering their support, the group mowed the lawns, whipper snipped, replanted a number of plants and mulched the garden.
Sgt Bourne and her team even brought gifts for the couple and their kids.
“It was sort of like our state of mind, that garden,” Ayden said. “It had deteriorated and now, I feel like it’s sparked us up for the Christmas time.
“The police got us through Christmas. We wouldn’t have had a Christmas if it wasn’t for the police.”
For Sgt Bourne, the day was overwhelmingly positive and seeing the team willingly coming together for a common goal was “powerful”.
“For me, personally, I’ve been a police officer for over 20 years, and I described this day the other day, as the most rewarding day that I’ve ever been involved in, and it was a privilege to be part of something so positive,” she said.
Ayden, who admits he’s not one to ask for help, said the kind act has helped to restore his faith in humanity and will forever be grateful for Sgt Bourne’s support.
“I look at her and I’m like, ‘you’re the angel I never knew that was coming’. She’s just… she is a very big part of my life at the moment,” he said.
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This article originally appeared on Yahoo News Australia at https://au.news.yahoo.com/aussie-family-stunned-by-police-officers-kind-act-outside-home-got-us-through-christmas-045646584.html
