White Christmas tinged with sadness

November 18, 2014

The fatherless boy who inspired his Big Buddy to ‘snow’ low-decile Auckland schools at Christmas will be missing from this year’s Big Buddy Christmas White Out.

Tragically, Bradley Elliott (14) died on September 8 from health issues related to the Rheumatic Fever he contracted as a small boy.

His death has devastated his Henderson whanau and his Big Buddy Jason Durey’s family.

Matched since April 2008, Jason opened up the world to Bradley - climbing mountains, fishing, swimming, having him work alongside him on film sets, racing carts and helping when Jason snowed low-decile schools, including Bradley’s old primary school – Henderson North.

“Bradley was a boy with a big heart who was very much a part of our family,” says Jason (41), who has three children of his own, aged 10, eight and five. “My kids loved him like a big brother and I learned a lot from him, including patience, during our time together. He was way too young to die and will be in our hearts forever - this year’s ‘white out’ is for him.”

Now in its fifth year, the Big Buddy Christmas White Out will see trees and playgrounds at Ambury Park Centre for Riding Therapy and 11 schools and a kindergarten in south, west and central Auckland foamed up.

Jason, who owns special effects company Film Effects Co Ltd, has worked on many of New Zealand’s major television and film productions, including The Piano, Whale Rider and Outrageous Fortune.

He was inspired to create winter wonderlands in low-decile schools after doing it at Bradley’s school back in 2009.

“The kids at his school just loved it – they went ballistic - so I decided to do something for kids who don’t necessarily have a lot to cheer about at Christmas. Now it’s the best day of my year!”

The ‘snow’ - safe, non-toxic, biodegradable foam - will be sprayed on playgrounds while the children are in class.

Big Buddy is a mentoring organisation that has matched nearly 600 fatherless boys like Bradley with carefully-screened mentors – ordinary men who spend a few hours a week with boys who need a good man in their lives. The results are outstanding!

For more on Big Buddy go to www.bigbuddy.org.nz www.facebook.com/bigbuddynz

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