Jane Susin spoke no English and often did not understand what was happening while her son was in a coma in a Gold Coast hospital.
Still, she stayed by his side for 10 days “waiting for the slightest sign.”
She had flown in from Brazil after Ivan Patricio Susin was beaten by Ricky Kevin Lefoe outside a kebab shop in Surfers Paradise in October 2019.
Her 29-year-old son had fallen and suffered a head injury after being hit when a brawl broke out over stolen hot chips.
The family could only afford one plane ticket, so Ms. Susin took her first international flight after being made aware of the serious assault.
Ivan Patricio Susin was punched in front of a kebab shop in Surfers Paradise by Ricky Kevin Lefoe in October 2019
When Mrs. Susin arrived, she hoped to “see my son smiling.”
“I found my son unconscious, connected to many medical devices… and in a coma,” she said in a victim impact statement.
She held a night vigil, but eventually her son was pronounced brain dead.
Ms. Susin had to watch as the hospital staff cut off his life support.
“Can you imagine what that means to a mother?” she said.
Three years after losing a daughter in a car accident, Ms Susin helped organize a Gold Coast wake for her son that her husband had to watch online.
By then, her daughter Joseane was by her side.
She had organized an escape from Brazil after being told that her brother was ‘probably not going to survive’.
“The night before my flight I received the news that my brother was brain dead – from that moment on my journey of pain began,” she said in a statement.
Mr Susin and Joseane’s parents watched via video link on Tuesday as Lefoe, 32, was sentenced to eight years in prison for manslaughter in Brisbane’s High Court
The parents of Mr Susin and Joseane watched via video link on Tuesday as Lefoe, 32, was sentenced to eight years in prison for manslaughter in Brisbane’s High Court.
Lefoe showed little emotion as the family’s statements were read in court.
They talked about coming to terms with the loss of Mr. Susin to the embarrassment of being stopped at the airport on X-rays with his ashes in his mother’s bag on his way home.
“Our son’s life has been snatched from us by this man who… doesn’t even have the decency to admit his actions – he has taken everything from us,” Ms Susin said.
The fatal blow was dealt during a brawl that started when Lefoe’s intoxicated friend Shaun Simpson grabbed hot chips. Mr. Susin’s group was eating near the kebab shop.
Lefoe left the scene but later returned, making no attempt to aid those helping an unconscious Mr Susin who was on a working holiday, the court heard.
Lefoe also showed no remorse when he was arrested.
“He tried to hit my mate, I put him to fucking sleep,” Lefoe told police.
The fatal blow was dealt during a brawl that started when Lefoe’s intoxicated friend Shaun Simpson grabbed hot chips. Mr. Susin’s group (pictured) was eating near the kebab shop
At Lefoe’s Supreme Court trial in February, a jury was repeatedly shown CCTV footage of the attack and took just a few hours to find him guilty.
After viewing the footage, Joseane Susin described Lefoe’s actions as “cowardice.”
“That person has no honor at all,” she said.
The court heard that Lefoe had a string of convictions in NSW after his brother was killed in a gang attack in 2011.
Lefoe was also convicted of a felony in 2022 while out on bail for manslaughter.
The court heard that he was held in custody from December 2020 to November 2021 on further charges pending in NSW.
Chief Justice Helen Bowskill said Mr Simpson had acted like an aggressive idiot and picked a fight, but Lefoe’s ‘split second decision’ had tragic circumstances.
“Impulsive violence has no place in our civilized society,” she said.
Lefoe will be eligible for parole in 2027.