Youth violence prevention charity the Sammy D Foundation educated eight schools in the Limestone Coast last week about the impacts of bullying and drug and alcohol-fuelled violence.

Seventeen-year-old Sam Davis was the victim of a one-punch attack at a party that tragically ended his life in 2008.

Sam’s parents, Neil Davis and Nat Cook, founded the Sammy D Foundation to teach young people the skills to help prevent an incident like this from happening again.

“My wife and I said there has to be a reason this happened and we have to stop any other family going through what we have been through,” Mr Davis said.

“Arming children with the knowledge of how to walk away and how to look after their mates when they see their mate getting that angry.

“We find that in a lot of schools that we go to, the more we go into the school the less violent incidents they have.

“You have to have good leaders in the school as well and through the staff to reinforce those messages, but this is just another tool in the armoury to help combat this.”

Mount Gambier North Primary School students tuned in to an ‘Impact’ presentation, where Mr Davis spoke about Sam, the incident that occurred, their emotions as a family and how students can prevent violence.

Mount Gambier North Primary School student wellbeing leader Simone Badenoch said it was important the Sammy D Foundation visited the school because the aim was to minimise harm and reduce violence.

“It is really important to teach our young people there are always other options when we are feeling angry and it is okay to feel angry but violence is not the answer,” Ms Badenoch said.

“The impact that it can have, as in, one punch can actually end someone’s life.”

Ms Badenoch said the school had seen a decrease in violence, especially in yard play and behaviour.

“Over the years since the Sammy D Foundation have come we have actually heard kids come up and say ‘I walked away because I did not want to be like that Sammy D kid’, so they will often refer back to that,” she said.

“Or often use the language ‘I did not want to be the idiot and I have walked away’, so it’s actually changing that culture that it is okay, especially for boys and for young men.”

Sammy D Foundation education facilitator and former Mount Gambier local Matthew Allen said the foundation had received fantastic feedback from schools they visited.

“Sometimes the greatest feedback is seeing the engagement of the students, that usually is quite high, so that is probably the most obvious example,” Mr Allen said.

Mr Davis said they were very grateful for the Freemasons funding their visit to rural areas through the Masonic Charities.

Heartbreaking, yet inspiring presentation sparks high emotions

Istayed and watched the Sammy D Foundation presentation for myself at Mount Gambier North Primary School.

Watching a loving father deliver such a powerful presentation about his son was both heartbreaking and inspiring.

Neil spoke fondly about Sam, what he was like growing up, his lust for life and his passion for sport, with a career in the AFL on the horizon.

Then he spoke about the night it happened, the party, the incident, the hospital and the emotions they experienced as a family.

I cannot imagine it would be easy. But the fact that Neil is doing this to try and prevent another family from going through the same unimaginable heartbreak, I believe is something truly admirable.

Hearing Neil say the bullies ran off laughing, including the boy who delivered the punch, it made me feel sick to my stomach. I wondered, how could someone be so cruel?

Nobody should have to ever walk into a hospital and hear the words, “he’s not going to make it” due to such a merciless act.

No parent, family member or friend should ever have to go through that pain.

It is clear Sam lived a life full of friends, sport, fun, laughter and adventures and made such an impact on so many lives during his short time here. He clearly was and always will be, loved by so many.

As I sit here and write this, I wonder what could have been for Sam. What AFL team would he be playing for? Would he be married? Would he have kids? What would his future have been like?

Sam’s legacy truly does live on through his parents, who are doing amazing things in communities to prevent youth violence. We were very lucky to have the Sammy D Foundation visit our region.