The grandparents of a nine-year-old boy who survived an alleged attempted drowning by his mother in the Murray River are spending each day by his hospital bed as the child struggles with the aftermath of the tragedy.
The young boy has undergone plastic and reconstructive surgery on his limbs, after being mauled by a pit bull during the ordeal at the river earlier this month.
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Mother charged over drowning claims
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One of the two boys is in hospital while his brother is still missing in the Murray River in Moama, as reported in early March. (Video courtesy: ABC New 24)
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Mother charged over drowning claims
One of the two boys is in hospital while his brother is still missing in the Murray River in Moama, as reported in early March. (Video courtesy: ABC New 24)
The family's lawyer also said the child is suffering post traumatic stress disorder and has not been eating.
His grandparents, who had been raising the boy and his five-year-old brother, are still by his side every day at Melbourne's Royal Children's Hospital. The boy's father, from Queensland, is also understood to be in Melbourne to support him.
The boy's younger brother died in the same tragedy earlier this month near Moama, on the Victoria and New South Wales border. His body was found by police in the river two days later.
Their 27-year-old mother has been charged with murder and attempted murder and is due to face court in May.
Neither she nor her sons can be named for legal reasons.
"[The nine-year-old-boy] is making a slow recovery," lawyer Dale Brooks said.
"He has had plastic and reconstructive surgery to his limbs and his physical progress is fine but the PTSD is obviously more troublesome. He has not been eating. The hospital is trying to get him back into regular nutrition."
His brother's funeral will be held in two weeks.
Mr Brooks had been representing the boys' grandparents in their bid to keep the boys away from their mother, who is the daughter of the grandmother.
Last year, the grandparents took out an apprehended violence order (AVO) against the mother and the boys were living with them in the NSW town of Deniliquin.
Meanwhile, the grandparents insist that the government agency at the centre of the tragedy, Corrective Services NSW, has not yet contacted them since announcing an investigation.
The agency has claimed there was no error in not preventing the woman - on her release from prison in February - from going back to the Deniliquin house where her sons lived, despite the AVO.
Mr Brooks said the NSW government investigation into the tragedy was at risk of being a "whitewash".
"It should be a thoughtful, prudent and thorough investigation," he said. "I live in hope."
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Michelle Micallef, acting Assistant Commissioner for Community Corrections in NSW, said on March 4, two days after the tragedy: "It appears our staff took reasonable steps to put appropriate services in place and to make alternative accommodation arrangements. We could not have foreseen this shocking outcome. We have conducted an initial review of the claims, and found no evidence for most of them".
She said Corrective Services tried unsuccessfully to find accommodation for the woman and made arrangements for her to get mental health care and substance abuse counselling. She said the conditions of the AVO only applied when the woman had consumed alcohol or drugs in the past 12 hours and did not prevent her from living at the home.
However, Mr Brooks said the woman was released early from jail in June, and despite phone calls between the grandparents' lawyers and the Corrective Services office in Albury, was able to catch a bus straight to Deniliquin. The incident at the river happened a month later. The woman had been staying in a caravan on the grandparents' property but was largely itinerant, Mr Brooks said.
NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian said this week that her government's investigations were still underway.
"The findings will be used to ensure all NSW government agencies provide the best possible protections for vulnerable children. The case has been referred to the coroner. The NSW Police investigation is ongoing. The case will also be considered by the NSW Ombudsman's Child Death Review Team."