t1 Flashcards
- Please state your name, age, occupation and how long you have been working there
My name is Frankie Hunt. I am 39 years old, and for the last 5 years I have helped manage and run the local community swimming club.
- How would you describe your relationship with your colleagues at the swimming club?
We have approximately 30 members and are all very close - we often socialise inside and outside of our swimming sessions
- Please describe your interaction with the defendant in early August of 2020 at the club
In early August 2020, I was at one of our regular swimming club evenings when I noticed Ali looking upset. This is very unlike him/her - he/she is always so positive and liked to cheer everyone up. I went over and asked them if they were okay.
- How did the defendant respond to this?
He/she seemed reluctant to say anything at first, but when I asked again, he/she said that doctors had diagnosed his/her daughter Lucy with cancer and that “it didn’t look good.”
- What was your response to this?
I of course asked if there was anything I could do to help. Ali thanked me for my offer but said “I don’t think there’s much anyone could do to help, unless they could help me win the lottery to pay for all these treatments!”
- And did you continue this conversation?
I didn’t want to push them to discuss it anymore as I could sense he/she was getting emotional
- How did you feel after you found out about the diagnosis from the defendant?
Over the next few days I couldn’t stop thinking about Ali and Lucy and what they must be going through. She always seemed like such a polite and simley little girl and as many of our club members had families, I knew they would all feel the need to help too.
- What did you do afterwards?
I mentioned the situation to most of the club members who were all more than happy to donate some money towards Ali’s medical costs. In only a week we had a total of $2,500 and everyone was so happy to have helped
- How did you raise the money?
I divided to host a few fundraising events through the club to try and raise ever more. This included a club BBQ, raffled, and a marathon swim event. In total we’d raised over $10,000 for Ali and I was delighted
- Did the defendant reach out after this?
Ali had been letting us know how the money had been helping pay their bills and go towards Lucy’s treatment - he/she was very grateful.
- Were there any repercussions from these fundraising events?
Although it was great that we had raised so much money, we had not been able to afford the usual payments towards the Club and had to make a few cutbacks over that period. We even had to withdraw from the NSW State Swimming Competition. None of us really minded though - helping Lucy was more important.
- Did you have much contact with the defendant in the months following?
By October, Ali had been coming less and less frequently to the swimming club events. I thought that this seemed strange but assumed it was because of Lucy’s treatment. I was worried Lucy had taken a turn for the worst!
- When did you next have contact with the defendant or her daughter?
One day I was at the beach with my nephew when I saw Lucy running around with a friend and she looked absolutely fine. I approached her and asked how she had been doing to which she replied, “I’m fine.”
- How did this interaction continue?
I was so confused. I asked how things were going in the hospital and she said, “I haven’t been in hospital, we’ve just got back from Bali though and that was great!”
- Did you interact with the defendant after discovering this?
Nic and I decided to confront Ali and ask what had been going on. Ali was being very shifty and tried to brush it off as being emotional, but when we kept asking, Ali finally said that they have found out that it isn’t cancer at all, and Lucy is fine.
