By Tyler Wright
Tecoma local Willow Swaneveld describes her life throughout the past couple of years as a video game in which she is levelling up too fast.
“I feel like I’m in a video game and I’ve got cheat codes or something,” 21-year-old Willow said.
In March 2021, Willow’s father Jamin passed away in a motorcycle accident leaving behind daughter Willow, son BJ and wife Marcia.
If that tragedy wasn’t enough, the Swaneveld’s Cockatoo home was destroyed seven months later by a fallen tree during a storm on 29 October.
“The house has been completely demolished now,” Willow said.
“It took 51 weeks for them to demolish it…It got harder and harder to look at and smell.”
In 2022, Willow began sharing her story in hopes of helping other young people not feel alone.
She took part in the Big Anxiety Festival’s Hard Place/Good Place exhibition, where she was interviewed about her experience during the storm and had 3D scans taken of her home, which were then turned into a virtual reality experience for viewers.
“A friend of mine who we worked with, she’s part of the Windermere Foundation, she suggested I put my name in for this exhibition that was being hosted, and again, I thought, ‘what could I possibly contribute to something like that?'”
“But after a few phone calls and emails, I realised that it was actually happening and it sounded so exciting.
“I started getting really excited to see what was going to happen and what was going to come of it, and started meeting all these incredible people that were a part of it and that made it something from nothing.”
Willow said it was “bittersweet” seeing her experience feature in an exhibition.
“Putting so much pain into the same thing that you’re pouring so much passion into was such a bizarre feeling,” she said.
“But having so much feedback, and so many people tell me that I’m brave for doing this. I’m not brave, I just wanted to let people know that they weren’t alone in what they were dealing with.”
Willow also shared her story with first responders and council members as part of a presentation at Exercise East, to help agencies learn how to approach emergency situations with empathy, particularly towards young people.
“Standing in front of 200 or so men in uniform with a microphone in my hand definitely felt like a bit of a fever dream trying to tell them what to do and how to feel,” she said.
“But it was validating to know that they were there to listen because in a lot of instances, with everything that’s happened with my dad and his motorbike accident and the tree and waiting for help, it was nice to finally be listened to.”
For Willow’s efforts sharing her story ensuring others feel seen and heard, she was named Young Citizen of the Year at Yarra Ranges Council’s 2023 Australia Day Awards ceremony on Thursday 26 January.
Her first thought when she received a voicemail from the Mayor’s office was “these scammers are getting so good”.
“What could I have to do with the Mayor’s office?,” she thought.
“I walked over to my manager and I said ‘hey, I know this is weird, I think I’ve received a call from the mayor’s office, do you mind if I duck outside?’ And he had the same reaction I did.
“I could not have imagined that an opportunity like this would ever come my way, let alone to be awarded for taking part in it.”
Willow said she sympathises with emergency service personnel who have procedures to follow, but it is important them to acknowledge that world of the family and children affected has been flipped on its head.
“The easiest way to describe it would be that our world got drained of colour, so it’s trying to describe living in black and white to someone that can see something so vivid,” she said.
“Having that kind of mindset of, ‘I do have a job to do, but I have to remember that I’ve got to do a bit of teeth pulling to do it, and that’s going to affect the person’…that’s hard.”
This year, Willow would like to get involved in anything that spreads the message of young people experiencing trauma.
“I don’t want to stop talking. I don’t want to stop listening to people and what they have to say.
“I think it’s super important that we don’t shy away from hard conversations like that.”
