The high school student who tragically passed away in hospital last Thursday afternoon (18 October) following a terrible accident on Mount Ainslie has been remembered as a “beautiful and gentle-hearted soul, wonderfully talented and loved by all who knew him”.
Adriaan Roodt, who lived with his family in Yass and attended Campbell High School, passed away after an incident during physical education class at Mount Ainslie. His life will be remembered at a funeral service on Friday (26 October).
A Go-Fund me page set up last week to help the Roodt family pay for Adriaan’s funeral and ease their financial burden during this traumatic time has seen over $28,000 raised, with 481 people donating in the past three days.
The page set up by family friend Lezanne Smith said Adriaan had just celebrated his 17th birthday and his future seemed promising and bright.
“Needless to say, his adoring parents Chris and Sandra and younger sister Christelle are absolutely devastated by the loss of their precious son and brother and life as they knew it will never be the same ever again,” the page says.
“Together we can bring a little bit of sunshine into the darkness of their grief and honour the memory of their beloved son Adriaan.”
Tributes have flowed in for Adriaan and the Roodt family with donors remembering him as a “beautiful soul”, a “wonderful and happy young man”, and as a colleague that brought a “positive attitude” to work.
One donor said, “Fly high precious boy, my love, thoughts and prayers are with your family”.
Another said, “Rest In Peace Adriaan, had so much fun with you out on the soccer field, such a beautiful soul.”
“I cannot even start to feel your pain at this time, I knew him as a wonderful and happy young man that made us smile – fly high Adriaan”, someone else said.
“Rest easy Adriaan, you were such an awesome guy and I’ll always remember the good times we had working at KFC together, no matter what we were doing we were having fun and always happy, you bring such a positive attitude to the place, going to miss you bud”, a colleague said.
“Adriaan was a lovely young man who I enjoyed teaching. I’ll never forget the kindness that he showed me as a first-year teacher” one of his teachers said.
ACT Education Minister Yvette Berry said she would reveal appropriate details surrounding the incident once the police and the Education Directorate conclude their investigations.