Mother Trying to Raise $195K to ‘Cryogenically Preserve’ Late Son, 13
NEED TO KNOW
- Australian actress, Clare McCann, is trying to raise around $195,000 to “cryogenically preserve” her 13-year-old son Atreyu’s body after he died by suicide on Friday, May 23
- She claimed on a GoFundMe page that the late teenager took his own life after “months of horrific bullying at his public school” in New South Wales
- “We only have one chance left to cryogenically preserve his body within the next 7 days. If we miss this window, we lose the chance for any future revival that science may offer,” McCann wrote on the fundraising page
An actress in Australia is trying to raise around $195,000 to “cryogenically preserve” her teenage son’s body after he died by suicide.
Clare McCann, who is also a filmmaker and journalist, explained that her 13-year-old son, Atreyu McCann, had taken his own life on Friday, May 23, following “months of horrific bullying at his public school” in New South Wales, per a GoFundMe page.
She explained on the page that she needs to raise the money within the next seven days, “or the opportunity for him to live again will be lost forever.”
“We only have one chance left to cryogenically preserve his body within the next 7 days. If we miss this window, we lose the chance for any future revival that science may offer. This is about hope and justice. Refusing to let my son’s story end in silence,” McCann said on the GoFundMe page, which was set up by a friend.
Cryopreservation sees the body frozen in the hope that one day it might be possible to revive it, per the BBC.
Clare McCann/Instagram
McCann told news.com.au, “All I really need to say is how much I really need these funds to give my son what he wanted.”
“About six or seven years ago, we started talking about the afterlife and heaven and I talked to him a little about cryogenics, and he told me he would like to do that,” she continued to the outlet.
“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 shared, per the publication.
Don Arnold/WireImage
She said on the GoFundMe page that she had “begged the school, the Department of Education, and Children’s Services to intervene” amid the bullying.
“I have medical records, psychologist reports, a formal PTSD diagnosis from his doctor, and emails proving I raised the alarm repeatedly. But nothing was done. No one stepped in. And now, my beautiful boy is gone,” McCann wrote on the page.
The actress said that the money will go toward “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 remaining funds will go toward anti-bullying education and reform, support for other families going through a similar situation, and legal action “against the institutions that failed him,” the page stated.
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“As my worst nightmare has come to life my child’s has been stolen. It breaks my heart beyond what words can compare to share that in a moment of unbearable pain Atreyu took his own life,” McCann added in an Instagram post while sharing links to the GoFundMe page.
The GoFundMe page had raised just over $2,700 as of Monday, May 26. PEOPLE has reached out to McCann for a tribute.
PEOPLE also contacted Australia’s Department of Education for a comment, but didn’t immediately hear back.
If you or someone you know is considering suicide, please contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255), text “STRENGTH” to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 or go to suicidepreventionlifeline.org.
