Kindness for Carissa, After life changing assault

Hi my name is Larissa, I’m fundraising to help support a young mum and her family after she was the victim of a traumatic act of violence in a public place.

On September 17th 2023, Carissa and her family we’re enjoying the 3rd Birthday Party of her niece at a public park in Dapto NSW.

Over the course of the 6hrs they were at the park they were aware that their children were playing with children from an unrelated event also being celebrated in the same park.

In the late afternoon Carissa’s 5yo son who is neurodivergent (ADHD + Autism) was involved in an incident with another child, witnesses report, the mother of that child, a stranger to Carissa and her family, began yelling and swearing at Carissa’s child, when she attempted to go to the aide of her son, according to Carissa, she was able to identify herself as “his mother” prior to a large male running towards Carissa.

As he reached Carissa he swung at her once connecting with the left side of her face, in a coward punch. Carissa was thrown several metres from the site of the attack, she was unconscious and bleeding from her left eye.

Police and Ambulance attended, however the offender had fled the scene, to date there has been no justice for Carissa, who is battling with the physical and emotional toll of recovering from a fractured jaw, eye socket and complete orbital rupture of her left eye.

Currently Carissa and her children are learning to live with the new normal that has left her blind in her left eye and constantly in need of traveling to Sydney leaving her children home while she receives ongoing medical treatment.

Carissa’s recovery process is slow and expensive, she has 3 children at home and all of her treatments require her traveling to Sydney, costly medications and childcare, at this time Carissa is working with multiple surgeons and has several more surgeries to come, though there is no guarantee that she will be able to restore her sight.

Carissa has been working through this battle for the last month and while she was reluctant to ask for help, it’s become to hard to make ends meet and at this time she could really use some support.

Carissa’s story has featured in both The Illawarra Mercury and A current affair.

The perpetrator of this horrific attack has not been Identified and community help is also being sought to assist the police in identifying him.