From the Newsroom

Zac and Crystie Oatley (centre) with Rotary Club of Yamba members Fran Dowsett, John McKenny, Rick Angelo, Yannick Martin, Rosemary Jobber, Jan Angelo, and Peter Jobber, and Gulmarrad Rural Fire Service Captain Ryan Walsh, and members Chloe Johnston, Tom Porter, and Tania Peene when they were presented the wheelchair cushions and car seat cushion at Yamba last week. Image: Rodney Stevens

Zac says, “Thank You.”

Rodney Stevens

If Yamba’s Zac Oatley could secure his dream job it would be greeting people at the door as they enter Yamba Fair – now thanks to the Rotary Club of Yamba, the Gulmarrad Rural Fire Service, Phil and the Bowlo Sports and Leisure Yamba team and the generosity of the community who raised more than $10,500 he will be more comfortable enjoying one of his favourite activities.

Many Lower Clarence locals and visitors to Yamba Fair would have met the Maclean High School student, who starts year 11 this year, greeting them near the entrance to Coles sitting in his wheelchair.

Zac was born after 25 weeks – 15 weeks premature – with a lack of oxygen to his brain during birth and delivery resulting in him suffering the severe physical disability, Cerebral Palsy Quadriplegia dystonic, which impacts his speech muscles and limits his mobility.

His parents Crystie and Ross juggle work and caring for their growing teenager to provide everything they can to make him comfortable and assist his development.

Crystie told the CV Independent Zac has evolved into a “social butterfly” and his obsession with the automatic doors near Coles Yamba is where many people would know him from.

“We’ve been doing this since pre-Covid…once he realised he could sit on the inside and then when we push the wheelchair forward and it would open the doors for people to come inside, and everyone would thank him, he just loved it,” she said.

“That’s how he starts his day if he’s not going to school, even if it’s for an hour he has to go to the doors, then we can get on and do things as a family after that.

“He would sit there from 7am until 5.30pm, until they turn the key on open so the doors automatically open to customers from the outside, if he could.”

Crystie said Zac’s obsession with the automatic doors near Coles at Yamba Fair has assisted his development.

“That’s where he’s learned a lot of his speech from, so now he can say ‘hello,’ ‘thank you,’ ‘have a good day,’ ‘hooroo’ and ‘bye’,” she said.

“So not only does he have an obsession with the doors, but he has also learned a few words from the community.”

Zach often enjoys chocolate bars that people buy him at Yamba Fair as a treat, Crystie said, and like all teenagers a recent growth spurt saw the family requiring $7000 custom made specialised cushions to support him in his motorised wheelchair and a more supportive cushion for his car seat.

“He had a massive growth spurt since June 2024,” she said.

“If Zac isn’t sleeping in his special high-low lift bed that we fundraised for, he’s sitting 99 per-cent of the time and with the old cushions that he had, after about 3 hours he would be very uncomfortable…so effectively we’d have to split our day into 3-hour blocks to manage him.”

Zac is funded by the National Disability Insurance Scheme NDIS, Crystie said, but when it comes to substantial purchases there can be significant wait times, so by having a fundraiser with such great community support means Zac’s comfort is significantly improved quicker, which delays potential spinal curvature/scoliosis.

So, the Rotary Club of Yamba and Gulmarrad Rural Fire Service RFS and the Bowlo Sports and Leisure Yamba helped raise the funds to purchase these essentials for Zac and the Oatley family.

During the traditional Santa Runs at Gulmarrad and Townsend, the Gulmarrad RFS collected donations from the community which went toward the purchase of the cushions and car seat.

The CV Independent office received a lot of phone calls asking how people could donate.

After the cushions and the seat were presented to the family by the Rotary Club of Yamba and members of the Gulmarrad RFS, at Rotary Park, Yamba, last Wednesday, a teary Crystie passed on her sincere thanks to everyone who donated.

“This makes Zac’s life more comfortable and our life so much easier, so thank you,” she said.

Crystie said the family would like to extend its sincere thanks to the Rotary Club of Yamba, the Gulmarrad Rural Fire Service, Phil and the team at the Bowlo Sports and Leisure Yamba, and the members of the community who contributed.