For two days, Kim Baker cuddled the warm body of her teenage son Will in the intensive care unit of a regional Queensland hospital.
She watched the 17-year-old's chest rise and fall with each breath of the ventilator, his heart still beating strongly.
William Baker died following a motorbike accident in May 2022. (Supplied: Kim Baker)
Specialist nurses and doctors were almost constantly at the bedside.
With blood tests, physio, scans and x-rays, the difference between night and day blurred.
"It was very intense, but I knew that Will's organs were going to be used and that they needed to be in the best condition possible," Kim said.
As Mrs Baker and her husband Andrew made the selfless decision to donate Will’s organs, they had no idea the chain of events his death would trigger in the weeks to come.
The accident
Early one night in May 2022, police knocked on the door of the Bakers' lowset brick house in the beachside suburb of Eimeo in Mackay, North Queensland.
"That's when our world fell apart," Mrs Baker said.
Will's parents were told their son's life could not be saved due to the swelling on his brain. (Supplied: Kim Baker)
Will was unlicensed and riding an unregistered trail bike when he hit the side of a courtesy bus from a local tavern and was critically injured.
"As soon as they said he wasn’t going to make it we said, 'just do everything you can to keep him alive to take his organs,'" she said.
Will’s heart, lungs, liver and kidneys were donated to help save five people.
The bike
The Bakers describe their headstrong son, who was a gifted skateboarder, as one of the kindest people they knew.
He had recently started working full-time and, in an effort to discourage him from riding his trail bike illegally, his parents encouraged him to join a motocross club.
On his last day alive, his father took him to a coaching clinic at the club.
"We're not shying away, William was doing the wrong thing, and he was making too many mistakes," he said.
"A lot of us get away with it and he didn't.
"We are also so sorry for what Will has put the bus driver through.”
The Mackay Regional Council voted to paint over the artwork commissioned in honour of the late teenager and keen skateboarder. (Facebook)
The mural
As his family grieved, Will’s friends gathered at the local skate park, not far from the Bakers' home.
Within days, tribute graffiti appeared on a 3.1-metre wall already known as "Will's Wall", where the late teenager had built his skating reputation.
His friends wanted a memorial at the skate park and organised donations for an artist to paint a mural to replace the graffiti.
Their request for the mural to be a memorial were abandoned with the Baker family asking for the artwork to instead represent youth community connections.
In the confusion, commissioned artist Anita Laura Kroeger mistakenly painted the mural before official council approval was granted.
The mural was widely seen to be a memorial, which would have required specific council approval.
While celebrated by young people, it polarised state and local government members, including local councillor Martin Bella.
"[A] memorial needs to be to someone worthy, not someone who was breaking the law and has ruined another person's life," he said.
Two months later the mural was whitewashed after Mackay Regional Council voted 8-3 against giving it retrospective approval.
The political fallout
The decision to remove the mural shattered a once-strong political alliance of members backing Mayor Greg Williamson, who entered the 2020 election with a team of six and by the end of his term had the public support of just two.
While young skaters and friends were "disgusted" by the decision, councillors who supported the removal reported death threats and said they were abused on the street and "contacted at all hours".
Cr Williamson was one of three councillors who sought to do community consultation before making a decision on the mural’s future.
Following the initial controversy, a fresh, council-approved mural was installed at Will's local skate park. (ABC News: Cristy-Lee Macqueen)
Two years on
A new, council-approved artwork now stretches across the same wall, by the same artist.
Mural organiser Bessie Hayes said it was healing for the community to have a mural back.
Bessie Hayes said she was grateful for a positive outcome after a determined community effort. (ABC News: Cristy-Lee Macqueen)
"Everyone just knows that this should have never come down," she said.
"I hope that it sends a bit of a message as well.
"We had told [council] what we want, and it's back here now."
Artist Anita Laura Kroeger said she hoped the new mural was something positive for the community to enjoy.
"It's been known as Will's Wall forever and will remain that to people who knew him," she said.
Artist Anita Laura Kroeger said the mural had always been intended to beautify one of the places Will Baker enjoyed most. (ABC News: Cristy-Lee Macqueen)
"I hope it's a meaningful mural.
"For people who didn't know Will and just enjoy the park, I feel that this mural is also something they can enjoy and connect with as well."
Mrs Baker said Will's family, including his sister Brianna, were delighted with the new mural.
"I'm really happy with it,” she said.
"It gives me a sense of belonging for the kids that use the skate park."
For her own personal reminder though, Mrs Baker said she touched her wrist every day.
It's where another artwork was etched — a heart-shaped tattoo made from prints from the tip of Will's index fingers.
She places her fingertip on the letter W and feels her pulse.
"For me, it's a bit of connection to Will, it's as close as I can be to him."
Kim Baker had a love heart tattooed on her wrist, made from her late son's fingerprints. (ABC News: Danielle Jesser)
