AUSTRALIA
ABC News
[with video]
Lewis Blayse championed the case of people abused at Salvation Army homes but has now passed away. Before his death, he gave 7.30 an interview in which he spoke of his hopes for the Royal Commission in to institutional abuse and for the children of the future.
Transcript
LEIGH SALES, PRESENTER: The name of the Salvation Army has long been associated with the ideals of charity and compassion. So many Australians have been appalled by revelations of sexual depravity and extreme cruelty at Salvation Army homes aired at the Royal Commission into child sexual abuse in the past week.
One of survivors of that ordeal was Queensland man Lewis Blayse. He campaigned for decades to have the accused abusers brought to justice and he helped set up the Royal Commission.
Last Friday, Lewis Blayse told the story of his experience in the Salvos’ horrifying homes to 7.30. A few hours later on Friday evening, he died of a heart attack.
His family wanted his last interview to be aired. Conor Duffy reports.
CONOR DUFFY, REPORTER: Like thousands of other abuse victims, Lewis Blayse needed to be alone. Haunted by his childhood, he retreated to an overgrown, isolated house in rural Queensland, but the trauma of his past came with him.
LEWIS BLAYSE: Yeah, I went through a depression for a while, I guess. My wife got sick of it and left eventually. A lot of the best psychiatrists in the country have tried to – if I’m near people for too long, I start getting nauseous because of the tension. Never get rid of it, apparently.
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