Recently Jess’s two-year-old son, Augustus Theodore, died suddenly and without reason. Now, facing funeral costs, lost income, and the weight of grief, she needs our help to (somehow) keep going…

This page has been created by Jess’s closest friends. We’re doing this because Jess would never ask for help herself, but right now she needs it.

Everything for Augie

You know those people who never seem to catch a break, the ones who move from one hardship to the next without ever asking for sympathy or support, but who keep showing up anyway?

That’s our Jess. Most people wouldn’t know half of what she’s lived through: trauma, violence, and loss that would flatten anyone else. Somehow, she’s always managed to hold herself together and still be the one others turn to.

Jess is a paediatric nurse who has spent her life caring for adults and children through times that most people couldn’t bear. Not long after her boy, Augustus Theodore (known to everyone as “Augie Bear") came along, it was clear that Jess would have to find the strength to raise him on her own. She and Augie built their life together, just the two of them, with no second income and no one else to share the load.

For nearly two and a half years, every part of Jess's routine revolved around Augie. For example, she took late shifts so her days belonged to him, sleeping in small pieces so she could still take him to the park, visit friends, walk their dogs (Frank and Walter), and make sure his world felt full.

We saw how much she gave and how rarely she rested.

The bills, the exhaustion, and the endless juggling were managed behind the scenes all so Augie would only ever know security and love from his mum. It was important to her that Augie saw his mum happy and smiling.

Before becoming a mother, she lived through experiences of violence, assault, and control that could have broken anyone. She has rebuilt herself more times than she’ll ever admit. Out of that history she created a life that was gentle, safe, and nourishing for her darling boy. Augie was the reason she kept going, the proof that something good could grow from everything she’d survived.

The long road to meeting her Augie Bear

Jess fought for years to become a mother, and it took medical intervention, financial strain, and emotional endurance that most people never have to face. Every step forward came with uncertainty and sacrifice, but she never let go of the idea that one day she’d have her baby. When she finally fell pregnant, she lived every day with a quiet vigilance, worrying about him, about whether her body could keep him safe, and about the future she wanted to build.

Those of us around her remember the mix of hope and fear that defined that time and the way she spoke about Augie before he was even born, as if he was already the part of her that made the world make sense.

Augie’s arrival changed everything for Jess… he became the light she built everything around, the love that made sense of all the pain that came before.

The boy who filled every room

Augie was climbing stairs at seven months, and he was walking by nine. He was quick, curious, and fearless! A little boy who moved through the world like it was all his to explore. He could hang from the monkey bars for seventeen seconds, jump from anything and run straight toward whatever caught his eye. There was a joy about him that pulled us all in. Strangers would stop to smile when they saw him and friends laughed that they felt tired just watching Jess chase him.

He was bold and busy, but he also had a quiet side, and a gentle vibration. Augie loved his bunnies, loved reading his books, and loved helping his mum cook (especially scrambled eggs).

He was cheeky, warm, and completely himself.

Augie always made his little friends giggle and seemed to collect people who loved him for exactly who his mum had raised him to be.

Everywhere Augie went, Jess was never far behind. She.did.not.sit.still. If Augie was climbing on something, Jess was there. If he ran, which was a very frequent occurrence, she followed. Their lives were built in motion and around experiences: in parks, on walks, at museums, travelling, in the small routines that made up their days. Jess made sure he saw and felt the world, even when she was running on absolutely empty.

The heartbreak beyond words

Then, without warning or explanation, Augie was gone. There had been no sign that anything was wrong, no reason to prepare and no moment to understand what was happening. One day Jess was chasing him around the house laughing at his wildness, and the next her world was unrecognisable.

There are still no answers about how or why he died and the days that have followed have been unbearable. For Jess, this loss sits beyond anything she has ever survived.

It has left her standing in a space no parent should ever know.

She now faces not only the weight of grief but the reality that follows it. She can no longer work with children because the idea of walking back into a paediatric ward is just too painful. The income that once kept her and Augie afloat will soon stop, and the costs of the funeral, rent, and relocation are immediate and heavy.

Why this support matters

Jess has spent years holding everyone else up, but now she needs that same care in return.

Full transparency: the reality is stark.

Jess is soon to lose her income, is facing mounting funeral costs, and will need to move from the home she built with Augie. There’s no partner to help shoulder it, no long-service leave, and no savings to fall back on.

We’ve set a goal to raise $80,000.

This will cover funeral and relocation costs, rent, and living expenses for the months and years ahead. It will be enough to give Jess some breathing space while she begins to navigate life after the unthinkable.

For Jess, for Augie, and for the life she built

If you can, please give.

Every contribution, no matter the size, helps lift part of the weight she’s carrying, and every message of support reminds her that she and Augie are not forgotten.

Jess once said that "Augie was the love she never knew she needed, the one who healed her." Helping her through this time is how we honour them both.

Some lights shine for only a short time, but they change everything they touch. Augie’s light remains in everyone who knew him, and Jess will carry it forward.

Thank you

Augustus Theodore 01.08.23 - 31.10.25

This page was created by Jess’s closest friends, and people who have watched her give everything to others and ask for nothing in return. If you’ve read this far, thank you for taking the time to understand what she’s facing and for keeping Augie’s memory alive.

Please donate if you can or share this page with others who might. Every act of support matters.

Written beautifully by Bengianni and Tuba Halil-Pizzirani.