When the harbour’s in trouble, call a six-year-old with a phone

If you spotted the photo of the submerged yacht in Kiama Harbour in The Bugle last week, chances are you’ve already admired the work of one of our newest contributors. 

His name is Darcy O’Brien. He’s six. And he has no time to waste.

“I saw the boat sinking,” he said, matter-of-factly.

“I told Mum to stop the car.”

The car stopped, the phone came out, and before you could say “citizen journalist,” Darcy was framing the shot that would end up in the news. 

The phone, for the record, is his mother’s basic Samsung device. Darcy's instincts, however, are anything but basic.

He might only be in Year One at primary school, but Darcy already knows how to follow a breaking story. 

He looked out the window and saw something strange.

His photo was gripping. His theories were, frankly, irresistible.

“I think it hit the rocks,” he explained. “Or maybe a shark. And then they got into a little boat and paddled to shore.”

Mum, Jennifer, confirmed she was planning to keep driving. 

“He begged me to stop. I said, ‘We’ll be late’. But we stopped anyway.”

The Bugle was on the scene, with a reporter speaking to early-rising locals, including a pint-sized snapper with big ideas. 

It turns out this wasn’t Darcy's first shot. He’s been snapping since he was five.

Mentors include Mum, Nonnie and Skippy, known as Granddad. His real passion, though, might be farm life.

The O’Briens often head out to Neville, a speck of a place near Blayney, where Darcy rides motorbikes, swims in the dam, and helps round up the cattle.

He’s learning about Black Baldies, Angus and Speckle Parks. He knows a Belted Galloway when he sees one. He’s already plotting his future.

“I want to build dams,” he says. “And take pictures.”

So here’s the deal. We’ve offered Darcy the unofficial title of Junior Reporter. His next assignment? “Darcy’s Farm Journeys” - a series of farm photos for a feature for The Bugle. He's agreed. With gusto.

We can’t wait to publish the next chapter. And neither, we suspect, can his class at show-and-tell.

Watch this space. There’s a new reporter in town.