Lake Macquarie, Teralba drowning: Dad whose six-year-old boy died after he left him alone in his backyard for the briefest of moments reveals heartbreaking truth about his son

A father whose six-year-old boy drowned after being left alone for a while has revealed how his son was always ‘pulled’ towards the water.

Sage Pearman, 6, drowned in a neighbour’s swimming pool in Teralba, Lake Macquarie in NSW, at around 3.10pm on January 11.

Heartbreakingly, he had been playing with his father, but was left alone for just three minutes while his father watched his nine-year-old brother Braxton.

“His favorite moments were at the beach because the sensory feeling of the sand was so exciting for him,” Sage’s devastated father Andrew Pearman told NCA NewsWire.

“He turned his head to the side and listened to the waves – he absolutely loved it, he loved the salt water and was just drawn to it. It was his favorite thing to do.”

Heartbreakingly, he had been playing with his father, but was left alone for only three minutes while his father watched his 9-year-old brother Braxton (photo Sage with his sister)

The schoolboy also liked to hide and often ran into the laundry or crawled into small spaces.

But because of his autism, he never responded when his name was called.

“We rent a large property but it takes about five minutes to check everything,” Mr Pearman recently told Daily Mail Australia.

“A few minutes passed and we searched everywhere. I immediately called the police and they were there within five minutes.”

Mr Pearman, who works as a truck driver, ran into the street and started shouting, asking neighbors if they had seen his son.

About twenty minutes later, he was walking down a side street and saw an officer running down the road.

“I jumped the fence and ran across the road and I saw the officer had my boy in his arms,” he said through tears.

“I tried to run to him but the police stopped me, they wouldn’t let me run to him or see him.”

Mr Pearman watched as police tried to revive Sage before ambulances arrived and began covering the boy with white towels.

Sage was an autistic and non-verbal child who was active and loved the beach

“I knew it wasn’t right,” he said.

The boy was found about 50 yards from the backyard where he went missing.

The ambulances left with his son in them, but Mr Pearman and his partner Lauren Moore, 38, were asked to go to hospital in another vehicle.

“They weren’t speeding or moving fast, and I knew that. I knew immediately what had happened,” he recalls.

“The ambulance driver said, ‘It’s going to be fine,’ but I knew if he was alive they would have rushed us there.”

When they arrived at the hospital, three doctors and a social worker told Mr Pearman and Mrs Moore that their son was dead.

“They took me into a room and I was with my baby as long as I could, and then he was gone,” he said.

His eldest son Braxton also has autism and although his condition is not as severe as Sage’s, he still struggles to understand situations.

Sage also didn’t like feeling confined – he liked fields and open spaces, and always wanted to be on the other side of a fence (pictured Sage in his mother’s arms, with his father and brother Braxton)

Sage once came home from the hospital in a cast because he had broken his foot. When his brother didn’t come home last Thursday, Braxton kept asking if his brother had a cast again.

A few days later, Mr. Pearman realized Braxton knew what was happening when he said, “Sage is an angel now.”

The nine-year-old also started watching the children’s program Hey Duggee on repeat last week. He never liked the show, but it was Sage’s favorite.

Mr Pearman said he was ‘completely overwhelmed’ by the kindness and support the local community had shown his family over the past week.

“As a father, it has humbled me immensely to see that there are people who can say and do such beautiful things,” he said.

The family wants to give Sage a Duggee-themed funeral with his favorite colors, red, orange and yellow.

Mr Pearman has one GoFundMe campaign to help cover costs – he was ashamed to ask for help, but said there was no other way they could afford to give their son a proper burial.

“The fact that I have to do this is so difficult and embarrassing, on top of the dark reality we face as we bury our six-year-old baby,” he wrote.

“But the reality of where we are in life right now leaves me with no choice but to ask the universe for help.”

“My only wish is that Sage has the best send-off and most memorable memorial he can possibly have, and that the rest of his family can feel comfortable with what lies ahead.”