Teralba, Lake Macquarie drowning: 'Broken' dad of six-year-old boy tells of his agony as his son drowns in a backyard pool

Sage Pearman, six, had autism and was non-verbalHis dad went inside for a moment, and Sage was gone Father set up a GoFundMe campaign to help with funeral costs

The father of a six-year-old boy who drowned in a neighbour’s pool, just 20 minutes after he was reported missing, has relived the moment he knew his son was dead.

Andrew Pearman, 35, realised his youngest son Sage wasn’t in the backyard of their Lake Macquarie home, two hours north of Sydney, at about 3.10pm on January 11.

He had been playing with Sage in the yard, but went inside for a moment to check on his eldest son, Braxton, nine.

When he went back outside, Sage was gone.

The schoolboy loved hiding and would often run into the laundry or crawl into small spaces.

But he had autism and was non-verbal with limited communication skills, so he never responded when his name was called.

Sage also didn’t like feeling confined – he loved fields and open spaces, and always wanted to be on the other side of a fence.

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

Andrew Pearman is pictured with his partner, Lauren Moore, and two of their three sons – Sage, left, and Braxton, right

Sage (pictured) had autism and was non-verbal with limited communication skills

‘A few minutes passed and we searched everywhere and I called the police straight away and they got there within five minutes.’

Mr Pearman, who works as a truck driver, ran onto the street and started yelling out, asking neighbours if they’d seen his son.

About 20 minutes later, he was walking down a back street and saw an officer bolt 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 was trying to run to him but police were holding me back, they wouldn’t let me run to him or see him.’

Mr Pearman could see police trying to resuscitate Sage, before ambulances arrived and they began to cover the boy with white towels.

‘I knew it wasn’t good,’ he said.

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

The ambulances took off with his son inside, but Mr Pearman and his partner Lauren Moore, 38, were asked to go to the hospital in another vehicle.

Andrew Pearman is pictured with his youngest son, Sage, who died last Thursday

Sage is pictured with his little sister Arleah. She is six months old and doesn’t understand what happened to her brother

‘They weren’t speeding or moving fast, and I knew. I knew right then what had happened,’ he recalled.

‘The ambulance driver was saying, “it will all be OK” but I knew they would have been rushing us there if he was alive.’

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

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

His oldest son Braxton also has autism and, while his condition isn’t as severe as Sage’s was, he still struggles to understand situations.

Sage once came home from hospital in a cast because he fractured his foot so, when his brother didn’t come home last Thursday, Braxton kept asking whether his little brother had a cast again.

A few days later, Mr Pearman realised Braxton knew what happened when he said: ‘Sage is an angel now.’

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

Their daughter Arleah is six months old and far too young to understand, so she continues to smile and laugh through the tragedy.

Sage didn’t like people touching him, his dad said, but he didn’t mind when it was his baby sister.

Sage is pictured with his mother, Lauren Moore, who is distraught over the death of her youngest son

When describing his son’s personality, the father-of-three said Sage reminded him of Donny – a wild boy who spoke very quickly, in gibberish, on 90s television show, The Wild Thornberry’s.

Mr Pearman said he was ‘completely blown away’ by the kindness and support the local community had shown his family within the last week.

‘As a father, it has completely humbled me to see there are people who can say and do such beautiful things,’ he said.

The family want to give Sage a Duggee-themed funeral with his favourite colours, red, orange and yellow.

Mr Pearman set up a GoFundMe campaign to help cover the costs – he was embarrassed to ask for help, but said there was no other way they could afford to give their son a proper funeral.

‘The fact I’m having to do this is so hard, and embarrassing, on top of the dark reality where about to face burying our six-year-old baby boy,’ he wrote.

‘But the reality of where we are currently at in life has left me no other option but to ask the universe for help.’

‘My only wish is that Sage can have the most beautiful send off and memorable memorial he can have, and the rest of his family can be at ease with what where about to face.’

Police said a six-year-old was reported missing from the Lake Macquarie area at about 3.15pm last Thursday.

‘Officers attached to Lake Macquarie Police District conducted a search of the area and located a child unresponsive in the pool of a nearby property,’ they said in a statement.

‘Police commenced CPR before the arrival of NSW Ambulance paramedics, however, the child was unable to be revived.’

A report will be prepared for the coroner.