1
00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:04,479
Speaker 1: But look, before Christmas last year, we were all very disturbed,

2
00:00:04,559 --> 00:00:06,960
Speaker 1: I think, when we learned that a mother and her

3
00:00:07,000 --> 00:00:10,000
Speaker 1: baby had to be flown to Adelaide for medical treatment

4
00:00:10,440 --> 00:00:15,160
Speaker 1: after a violent home invasion in Alice Springs. Nicole Sequenza

5
00:00:15,400 --> 00:00:18,239
Speaker 1: was holding onto her two month old baby girl when

6
00:00:18,239 --> 00:00:22,720
Speaker 1: a teenager allegedly struck them with a medal pole, leaving

7
00:00:22,760 --> 00:00:27,360
Speaker 1: little Antonia with a fractured skull. Now, her dad, Marlin,

8
00:00:27,520 --> 00:00:30,000
Speaker 1: spoke to me on the show in December saying that

9
00:00:30,040 --> 00:00:32,600
Speaker 1: his daughter was improving and had gone a few days

10
00:00:32,640 --> 00:00:36,080
Speaker 1: without having a seizure. Now, we got a few messages

11
00:00:36,200 --> 00:00:38,360
Speaker 1: yesterday on the show, my first day back on air,

12
00:00:38,440 --> 00:00:41,639
Speaker 1: people saying, Katie, have you got any idea how that

13
00:00:41,680 --> 00:00:45,440
Speaker 1: little one is going? And I'm pleased to say that

14
00:00:45,600 --> 00:00:49,240
Speaker 1: her dad joins me on the line right now. Good

15
00:00:49,240 --> 00:00:50,760
Speaker 1: morning to you, Marlin.

16
00:00:51,280 --> 00:00:53,000
Speaker 2: Good morning, Good morning Katie. How you going.

17
00:00:53,240 --> 00:00:56,600
Speaker 1: Ye're really good? Lovely to have you back on the show, mate.

18
00:00:56,920 --> 00:01:00,000
Speaker 1: How is your wife and how's your little baby girl?

19
00:01:01,240 --> 00:01:06,280
Speaker 2: Look? It's it's definitely a miracles, the best the best

20
00:01:06,280 --> 00:01:09,800
Speaker 2: position that we could have actually ever had hopes considering

21
00:01:09,840 --> 00:01:13,119
Speaker 2: everything that went down, It's it's good news all around.

22
00:01:13,319 --> 00:01:17,160
Speaker 2: On the health front, a Nicole is is doing better

23
00:01:18,000 --> 00:01:23,440
Speaker 2: really well. Actually she actually didn't have any internal injuries,

24
00:01:23,440 --> 00:01:24,880
Speaker 2: which was a bit of a fear at the time

25
00:01:24,920 --> 00:01:31,160
Speaker 2: as well too. But Donia, she's great. She I think

26
00:01:31,360 --> 00:01:35,000
Speaker 2: when I spoke to you last year, she was coming

27
00:01:35,120 --> 00:01:37,720
Speaker 2: off or she was having like less and less sieges.

28
00:01:39,000 --> 00:01:43,440
Speaker 2: Thank you Jesus, that stopped completely. So it was it

29
00:01:43,520 --> 00:01:46,280
Speaker 2: was a huge, huge tick for us, kind of like

30
00:01:46,280 --> 00:01:49,440
Speaker 2: an early Christmas present, if you will, Katie, because we

31
00:01:49,440 --> 00:01:51,720
Speaker 2: were we were actually allowed or she was actually allowed

32
00:01:51,720 --> 00:01:55,480
Speaker 2: to be discharged a little bit earlier because the sieges

33
00:01:55,520 --> 00:01:58,680
Speaker 2: had stopped, and the brain bleader as well too, that

34
00:01:58,720 --> 00:02:01,240
Speaker 2: had that had been stopped as well too, So that

35
00:02:01,440 --> 00:02:04,240
Speaker 2: was really great news for us at the time too.

36
00:02:04,520 --> 00:02:08,040
Speaker 1: Oh mate, I'm so pleased to hear that, because I,

37
00:02:08,080 --> 00:02:11,679
Speaker 1: you know, the whole of the Northern Territory I think

38
00:02:11,880 --> 00:02:16,200
Speaker 1: was really so worried about your little family.

39
00:02:17,240 --> 00:02:23,000
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, absolutely, and exactly as it was happening. You know,

40
00:02:23,240 --> 00:02:26,640
Speaker 2: so many messages, so many calls of people being worried

41
00:02:26,639 --> 00:02:31,160
Speaker 2: and being angry, being concerned, overwhelmed of just how it

42
00:02:31,200 --> 00:02:31,919
Speaker 2: all went down.

43
00:02:32,240 --> 00:02:35,840
Speaker 1: Yeah, Marlon, So when were you given the all clear

44
00:02:35,960 --> 00:02:37,760
Speaker 1: to come back to the int.

45
00:02:39,480 --> 00:02:43,880
Speaker 2: Well, how it happened was they naturally kept her monitored

46
00:02:43,880 --> 00:02:47,520
Speaker 2: and wanted to make sure that she was responding and

47
00:02:47,560 --> 00:02:50,880
Speaker 2: doing well, which she was by all accounts medically, so

48
00:02:51,560 --> 00:02:53,079
Speaker 2: they kept her in for a few extra days I

49
00:02:53,120 --> 00:02:55,760
Speaker 2: think it was a little of ten extra days in

50
00:02:55,800 --> 00:02:59,480
Speaker 2: the hospital, and then the doctor's just requested that we

51
00:02:59,680 --> 00:03:02,320
Speaker 2: hang Adelaide as well too, because you know, being fifteen

52
00:03:02,320 --> 00:03:05,160
Speaker 2: minutes away is easy than being fifteen hundred kilometers away,

53
00:03:05,400 --> 00:03:08,040
Speaker 2: So we were able to do that as well too,

54
00:03:08,120 --> 00:03:11,800
Speaker 2: which was great. And yeah, all green lights from theirs,

55
00:03:11,840 --> 00:03:14,560
Speaker 2: which was a huge weight of our shoulders.

56
00:03:14,880 --> 00:03:18,280
Speaker 1: So what was it like then when you returned to

57
00:03:18,320 --> 00:03:20,520
Speaker 1: Ellie Springs?

58
00:03:21,200 --> 00:03:24,200
Speaker 2: Excuse me, Look, it was phenomenal to say the least.

59
00:03:24,240 --> 00:03:29,000
Speaker 2: You know, the community and the networks that we have here, absolutely,

60
00:03:29,120 --> 00:03:33,960
Speaker 2: and the rallied but again worried for us, you know,

61
00:03:34,080 --> 00:03:36,480
Speaker 2: just wanting to know that we were okay, that we

62
00:03:36,480 --> 00:03:40,320
Speaker 2: were physically okay. And you know, we had people pick

63
00:03:40,400 --> 00:03:43,600
Speaker 2: us up the airport, people offer their support and their

64
00:03:43,640 --> 00:03:47,839
Speaker 2: help in the like as we returned back, and even

65
00:03:47,880 --> 00:03:50,440
Speaker 2: still to this day, you know, people were connecting the

66
00:03:50,480 --> 00:03:53,560
Speaker 2: dots they may have been away or whatever, and they're like, oh,

67
00:03:53,640 --> 00:03:56,280
Speaker 2: you're that family that it happened to, and you know,

68
00:03:56,360 --> 00:03:59,440
Speaker 2: people still reaching out, people still loving on us, and

69
00:03:59,480 --> 00:04:00,640
Speaker 2: it's just it's beautiful.

70
00:04:00,840 --> 00:04:05,360
Speaker 1: Oh betities and the community. I mean they really rallied

71
00:04:05,600 --> 00:04:08,440
Speaker 1: around your little family as well. They started that go

72
00:04:08,640 --> 00:04:13,080
Speaker 1: fund me page. How much money did they raise in

73
00:04:13,120 --> 00:04:16,200
Speaker 1: the end, and what has that meant for you guys?

74
00:04:16,360 --> 00:04:21,760
Speaker 2: Look, yeah, it was astronomical. I mean at the time

75
00:04:21,920 --> 00:04:26,120
Speaker 2: when it didn't all start, the organizers of it said,

76
00:04:26,160 --> 00:04:27,760
Speaker 2: look if we can just raise a few a few

77
00:04:27,800 --> 00:04:30,159
Speaker 2: thousand dollars just to get you down to Adelaide to

78
00:04:30,160 --> 00:04:33,520
Speaker 2: be together, and then it just exploded. I think the

79
00:04:33,560 --> 00:04:36,560
Speaker 2: final fee was fifty five odd thousand dollars, which is

80
00:04:36,640 --> 00:04:41,560
Speaker 2: just mind blowing and like what it's meant to us, Wow, Katie,

81
00:04:41,680 --> 00:04:45,599
Speaker 2: like to see to see so many people that we know,

82
00:04:46,600 --> 00:04:48,680
Speaker 2: but even more so as well too, like just the

83
00:04:48,680 --> 00:04:51,039
Speaker 2: people that have just come behind us and just jumped

84
00:04:51,040 --> 00:04:54,159
Speaker 2: on the likes of the gofund me and again people

85
00:04:54,200 --> 00:04:56,720
Speaker 2: reaching out that we didn't know, we hadn't in our

86
00:04:57,440 --> 00:04:59,320
Speaker 2: in our committee, you know, and they're like, look, we're

87
00:04:59,360 --> 00:05:01,200
Speaker 2: just down the road or you know, happy to do this,

88
00:05:01,400 --> 00:05:05,360
Speaker 2: happy to do that. So it's been absolutely amazing.

89
00:05:05,440 --> 00:05:07,600
Speaker 1: And you know, that's a really that's something that I

90
00:05:07,640 --> 00:05:10,599
Speaker 1: really love about the Northern Territory, right is that you know,

91
00:05:10,680 --> 00:05:14,600
Speaker 1: we can have these really terrible things happen, and sadly

92
00:05:15,240 --> 00:05:18,040
Speaker 1: they do and what happened to your little family is

93
00:05:18,080 --> 00:05:22,520
Speaker 1: just completely unacceptable. But then the you know, the reaction

94
00:05:23,040 --> 00:05:26,360
Speaker 1: from the whole community and the way in which people

95
00:05:26,400 --> 00:05:29,600
Speaker 1: really rallied together is nothing short of.

96
00:05:29,600 --> 00:05:35,080
Speaker 2: Unbelievable, exactly exactly like you know, the Butterfly Connection had

97
00:05:35,120 --> 00:05:38,120
Speaker 2: so much to do in putting different things together as

98
00:05:38,160 --> 00:05:41,960
Speaker 2: well too, and there's a community event that they organized

99
00:05:42,000 --> 00:05:46,440
Speaker 2: with the local prison officer associations as well too, and

100
00:05:46,520 --> 00:05:49,600
Speaker 2: that went absolutely gang busters. But Katie, just really seeing

101
00:05:50,800 --> 00:05:55,320
Speaker 2: what felt like hundredths of people just coming in to

102
00:05:55,400 --> 00:05:59,080
Speaker 2: the event to pass on their well wishes, to pass

103
00:05:59,080 --> 00:06:03,680
Speaker 2: on their considerations and their love and support in person

104
00:06:03,720 --> 00:06:06,240
Speaker 2: as well too, you know, just another wave of emotion

105
00:06:06,320 --> 00:06:10,760
Speaker 2: where like, wow, people care and also people understand the

106
00:06:10,760 --> 00:06:13,359
Speaker 2: frustration that it is that exactly as you said, you know,

107
00:06:13,839 --> 00:06:16,440
Speaker 2: these things do happen, they shouldn't for so many reasons,

108
00:06:16,440 --> 00:06:19,600
Speaker 2: but when people in the community come behind you, it's

109
00:06:19,640 --> 00:06:20,640
Speaker 2: it's amazing.

110
00:06:20,839 --> 00:06:26,040
Speaker 1: Marlon, tell me your your little girl's skull. How how

111
00:06:26,160 --> 00:06:26,880
Speaker 1: is it healed?

112
00:06:28,640 --> 00:06:32,800
Speaker 2: Also, it's it does have the fraction lines there. So

113
00:06:33,760 --> 00:06:36,799
Speaker 2: I'm not a medical professional by any structure of imagination,

114
00:06:36,839 --> 00:06:39,440
Speaker 2: but you know what I remember from the neuros neuroteam

115
00:06:39,920 --> 00:06:41,960
Speaker 2: saying that there was no stepping is what they call,

116
00:06:42,120 --> 00:06:45,520
Speaker 2: so you know, any actual crass on the cull, which

117
00:06:45,560 --> 00:06:47,720
Speaker 2: would have then led to pressure on the brain and

118
00:06:47,760 --> 00:06:54,320
Speaker 2: that's very dangerous. So again, thank you Jesus. That was like, no, no, no, no,

119
00:06:54,400 --> 00:06:58,640
Speaker 2: moment of consideration, which was great. So the fractures itself

120
00:06:58,680 --> 00:07:02,039
Speaker 2: are there, but because she was only two months at

121
00:07:02,040 --> 00:07:05,200
Speaker 2: the time and she's so little, she's in the best

122
00:07:05,240 --> 00:07:08,160
Speaker 2: position of her best position forward for her life and

123
00:07:08,279 --> 00:07:11,600
Speaker 2: she won't She shouldn't touch word. Of course, you shouldn't

124
00:07:11,640 --> 00:07:14,840
Speaker 2: have any implications as she grows up. You shouldn't have

125
00:07:15,760 --> 00:07:18,400
Speaker 2: any seizures or anything like that that will affect her

126
00:07:18,720 --> 00:07:20,840
Speaker 2: as she gets older and later in her life as

127
00:07:20,880 --> 00:07:21,320
Speaker 2: well too.

128
00:07:21,480 --> 00:07:25,000
Speaker 1: Oh mate, I'm so glad to hear that. Now, tell

129
00:07:25,040 --> 00:07:29,120
Speaker 1: me how is your wife? How is she going? You know,

130
00:07:29,680 --> 00:07:34,080
Speaker 1: I really think about this as a mom and think

131
00:07:34,120 --> 00:07:38,119
Speaker 1: to myself, how does she sort of feel being back

132
00:07:38,160 --> 00:07:42,680
Speaker 1: home after what had happened, and you know, and for

133
00:07:42,720 --> 00:07:43,600
Speaker 1: your other children.

134
00:07:45,280 --> 00:07:48,760
Speaker 2: Yeah, look O, life is very different now. For Nicole,

135
00:07:49,600 --> 00:07:52,800
Speaker 2: it's surreal. You know. I was talking to a few

136
00:07:52,800 --> 00:07:56,080
Speaker 2: other people and I definitely stand by my statement. She's

137
00:07:56,160 --> 00:08:00,240
Speaker 2: my wonder woman because she's so valiant, she's so strong,

138
00:08:01,760 --> 00:08:05,800
Speaker 2: and naturally, we're humans, you know, we're full of emotions.

139
00:08:05,840 --> 00:08:08,120
Speaker 2: And the likes have been back in the house, the

140
00:08:08,240 --> 00:08:12,840
Speaker 2: likes have been back in town is another wave of emotions. Unfortunately,

141
00:08:12,840 --> 00:08:14,880
Speaker 2: to be honest with you, Katie, it's positive but under

142
00:08:15,040 --> 00:08:17,160
Speaker 2: you know, negative as well too, in the same breath.

143
00:08:18,200 --> 00:08:21,880
Speaker 2: And it's that juggle. It's that juggle for her. It's

144
00:08:21,960 --> 00:08:26,000
Speaker 2: that juggle for the children as well too. You know

145
00:08:26,080 --> 00:08:28,560
Speaker 2: that they were home, like we're a home school family,

146
00:08:28,640 --> 00:08:30,480
Speaker 2: you know, so that they're with us all the time,

147
00:08:31,280 --> 00:08:33,400
Speaker 2: and that's one of the reasons why they were home

148
00:08:33,480 --> 00:08:37,120
Speaker 2: during the invasion. So you know, they have their own

149
00:08:37,120 --> 00:08:40,320
Speaker 2: waves of emotions as well too, to have to deal

150
00:08:40,320 --> 00:08:41,680
Speaker 2: with and ta have to process as well.

151
00:08:42,320 --> 00:08:45,480
Speaker 1: Well. You sound like an incredible dad, and your wife,

152
00:08:45,600 --> 00:08:50,400
Speaker 1: Nicole sounds like an incredible woman, an incredibly strong woman

153
00:08:51,360 --> 00:08:54,440
Speaker 1: dealing with what's she's gone through and so I think

154
00:08:54,480 --> 00:08:56,800
Speaker 1: that your children are very, very lucky, and I've no

155
00:08:56,920 --> 00:08:59,960
Speaker 1: doubt that you guys would be, you know, staying really

156
00:09:00,080 --> 00:09:01,520
Speaker 1: tight and looking after each other.

157
00:09:02,640 --> 00:09:05,640
Speaker 2: Absolutely. Look, it's what gets us through. You know, the

158
00:09:06,559 --> 00:09:09,200
Speaker 2: different conversations that we've had since coming back, you know,

159
00:09:09,280 --> 00:09:12,120
Speaker 2: some haven't been nice because it's been talking about the

160
00:09:12,800 --> 00:09:15,600
Speaker 2: ill feelings and the things that you don't really want

161
00:09:15,640 --> 00:09:17,920
Speaker 2: to be talking about on a day to day. But

162
00:09:18,000 --> 00:09:20,400
Speaker 2: as addressing those and you know, understanding that we have

163
00:09:20,720 --> 00:09:22,520
Speaker 2: the love of each other, the love of God, and

164
00:09:22,559 --> 00:09:24,760
Speaker 2: the amazing support of this community as well too.

165
00:09:25,280 --> 00:09:27,440
Speaker 1: And at this port in time, is there any like,

166
00:09:27,559 --> 00:09:30,160
Speaker 1: is there any other support that the family needs? Right,

167
00:09:30,200 --> 00:09:32,480
Speaker 1: you're you know, you're all sort of settling in pretty

168
00:09:32,520 --> 00:09:34,560
Speaker 1: well now and settling back to normality.

169
00:09:35,920 --> 00:09:38,200
Speaker 2: Yeah, look, I guess it's a bit of a catch

170
00:09:38,280 --> 00:09:41,600
Speaker 2: three too, right, Like life is. Life moves on. That's

171
00:09:41,640 --> 00:09:44,520
Speaker 2: the first and foremost, you know, naturally we don't want

172
00:09:44,520 --> 00:09:47,680
Speaker 2: to stay in that negative bubble of what happened and

173
00:09:47,720 --> 00:09:51,280
Speaker 2: how things went down. But yeah, like as life sort of,

174
00:09:51,320 --> 00:09:54,240
Speaker 2: you know, with school kicks back, you know, different activities

175
00:09:54,320 --> 00:09:58,800
Speaker 2: kick back in. You know, yes, life, life continues on.

176
00:09:59,600 --> 00:10:04,280
Speaker 2: So look, we are we are really well supported. It's

177
00:10:04,320 --> 00:10:06,320
Speaker 2: a it's a lovely question to think on, but you

178
00:10:06,360 --> 00:10:11,320
Speaker 2: know it's I still say it's a day by day process.

179
00:10:12,400 --> 00:10:15,320
Speaker 2: Some days are good, Sundays are it's good and as

180
00:10:15,320 --> 00:10:17,880
Speaker 2: we as we moved through those, you know, we can

181
00:10:17,920 --> 00:10:20,160
Speaker 2: make sure that we stick together. Yeah, we will come

182
00:10:20,160 --> 00:10:21,320
Speaker 2: at it out of it.

183
00:10:21,440 --> 00:10:25,200
Speaker 1: At the same well, Marlon, I really appreciate the time

184
00:10:25,200 --> 00:10:28,560
Speaker 1: you've given us before Christmas at what must have been,

185
00:10:28,880 --> 00:10:32,280
Speaker 1: you know, some of your darkest hours, and then now

186
00:10:32,440 --> 00:10:35,960
Speaker 1: giving the Northern Territory community an update on how your

187
00:10:36,040 --> 00:10:39,440
Speaker 1: little family is tracking along. I really appreciate your time.

188
00:10:39,520 --> 00:10:43,440
Speaker 1: There's been so much love to you guys. I know,

189
00:10:43,640 --> 00:10:48,240
Speaker 1: the whole Northern Territory community really, you know, when everything occurred,

190
00:10:48,280 --> 00:10:50,880
Speaker 1: just wanted to wrap their arms around you guys and

191
00:10:51,440 --> 00:10:55,280
Speaker 1: try to support you in any way that they could. Indeed,

192
00:10:56,040 --> 00:10:58,080
Speaker 1: thank you so much for having a chat with me

193
00:10:58,160 --> 00:10:58,720
Speaker 1: this morning.

194
00:10:59,480 --> 00:11:00,880
Speaker 2: Thanks getting I appreciate the time.

195
00:11:01,000 --> 00:11:02,440
Speaker 1: Thank you, Thanks so much,