His teammates are praying. His Year 7 classmates are sending love. His club says the football community is behind him.
A junior soccer club has rallied around one of its own after a 12-year-old boy was critically injured at North Melbourne Station on Monday afternoon when his backpack became caught between train carriages and he was dragged beneath the train.
Chris, a Year 7 student at St Aloysius College and a member of Lustica Football’s high-performance junior academy in North Sunshine, remains in a stable but critical condition at Melbourne’s Royal Children’s Hospital, where he is receiving ongoing medical treatment surrounded by his family.
In an emotional social media post shared overnight, Lustica Football described Chris as a “much-loved” member of the club and asked its football community to keep him and his family in their thoughts.
“Chris is currently receiving world-class care and ongoing medical treatment, surrounded by the support of his family and loved ones,” the club wrote.
“We ask our football community to keep Chris and his family in your thoughts and prayers during this difficult time. Stay strong Chris, we are all behind you.”
What happened at North Melbourne Station
The accident occurred just before 4pm on Monday when multiple horrified commuters called triple-zero after witnessing Chris become trapped beneath the train.
Specialist emergency services rescue crews worked for close to an hour to free the boy, with Ambulance Victoria paramedic Alex Hemsley describing the scene as “incredibly traumatic” for everyone involved including the emergency workers themselves.
“They did a fantastic job,” Hemsley said. “They did everything as quickly as they could have done, provided the highest-level care to this young person in potentially one of the most traumatic days of their lives.”
Chris was transported to the Royal Children’s Hospital under lights and sirens, where he remains. Victoria Police are continuing to investigate the circumstances surrounding the incident.
An outpouring from the community
The response to Lustica Football’s post was immediate and overwhelming, with classmates, parents, teammates and members of the broader community flooding the comments with messages of love and support.
“Thoughts and prayers are with his family. Chris is a Year 7 at our school. We look forward to seeing him back in due course. You got this gorgeous Chris!” one woman wrote.
A message from his 7A class read: “Sending you lots of love and strength Chris and family from your 7A class. We are all thinking of you and praying for your recovery.”
Others described the accident as a “horrendous tragedy” and said they were praying for Chris to make a full recovery.
Anyone with information about the incident is asked to contact Victoria Police. In a train emergency, press the emergency intercom on the platform or inside the carriage immediately and call 000.
