The last social media post a Sydney couple made before their five-year-old son washed away in floodwaters shows their three kids having fun in the back of their ute as they navigated partially inundated roads.
Before their car was washed away by rising floodwaters on Friday at around 8pm, parents Joseph El Jer and Pam Hadchity recorded footage of their 445-kilometer drive from Granville, Sydney, to Tullamore in Central NSW.
For a vacation to the Dubbo Zoo, the family had traveled west.
After leaving their car, Mr. and Mrs. El Jer were discovered by emergency personnel hanging onto trees in roaring water with their two youngest children.
Jayden, the couple’s five-year-old son, was unable to get out of the automobile.
Photos show the family being hoisted from the rescue boat while wearing life jackets.
The family was taken to Dubbo Hospital for treatment while the ambulance waited with emergency services with the vehicle.
When Jayden’s body was discovered by police divers inside the submerged automobile, he was taken to Parkes Hospital but passed away there.
His parents had posted a video the day before of them driving through partially flooded roads while the three kids applauded from the backseat.
The last video uploaded to the family’s TikTok profile shows them visiting Dubbo Zoo on a Friday afternoon. Dubbo is located approximately 126 kilometers east of Tullamore.
March marked Jayden’s fifth birthday.
The young youngster is pictured happy while sporting icing from his dinosaur-themed cake on his face.
Mrs. Hadchity accompanied the pictures, writing, “You make me proud, glad, happy and I will always be your biggest fan, love you very much.”
Jayden was described as a “gift from the skies” by Mr. El Jer.
“You transformed me into the father I had only ever dreamed of being.” I am now complete because of you and your siblings, he remarked.
On their TikTok website, the family has heartbreaking videos of Jayden dancing and playing with his brothers.
The El Jer family is highly known in the Tullamore neighborhood and frequently comes to town.
According to locals, the family frequently went to Tullamore Catholic church.
Adriana Stevenson, a local mother, told the Daily Telegraph, “It’s really awful; things like this just don’t happen out here and everyone is just utterly devastated for the family, everyone who went out there.”
It’s terrible, just terrible. You really can’t imagine how the family must be feeling; it was certainly a mistake, a hasty decision that was made in the wrong situation.
“You get goosebumps,” they say.
First responders at the horrible sight are ‘looking after each other,’ according to SES Chief Commander Rob Cunneen, as continuing water rescue efforts continue.
SES volunteers have carried out six floodwater rescues and responded to 112 pleas for assistance in the last 24 hours.
Visit the NSW SES website for the most recent flood warnings in NSW.