Jason McCartney became one of the faces of the Bali Bombings and seen by many as the human face of the attacks – “a person who epitomised the Australian Fighting Spirit”.
Despite suffering horrific injuries in the bombings, Jason assisted two sisters from the burning wreckage, and then gave up his seat on an evacuation aircraft to those he believed were worse off than himself.
Returning to Australia with extensive burns, Jason was almost unrecognisable to his parents. Lapsing into a weeklong coma, it was touch and go, but Jason fought back.
His determination to survive and win the battle for recovery against his terrible injuries saw him not only make it to his wedding on time but also play Australian Rules football.
But Jason had another goal to achieve and that was to once again play in the elite AFL for his club, North Melbourne, and for his “88 mates” (those Australians killed in the bombing).
On the evening of June 6th 2003, playing in virtually a complete protective body stocking, Jason again played AFL Football. In a game that will be remembered forever by all those watching, Jason not only scored a critical goal during the game, but was also instrumental in scoring the final winning goal and a 3 point fairytale victory over the opposition, Richmond.
It was a night when there was not a dry eye in the stadium; Sports broadcasters voices wavered and their eyes filled with tears. The entire stadium stood to applaud Jason as he was carried off the field by his teammates, being cheered by his competitors.
Jason’s return and ultimate glory was a victory over terrorism and a “win” for all the victims of the Bali Bombing. A return made possible not only because of his character and courage but a team effort from which all drew strength.
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