Relief as family granted exemption to allow baby to attend his dad’s funeral

The family of a young electrician who died at work last week are relieved after being granted an exemption allowing the man’s five-month-old baby to be excluded from the 10 mourner limit at his funeral.

Jarrod Fox died after being electrocuted while working at a Ringwood home last week.

His family were desperately seeking an exemption so his baby son, Jasper, could attend his dad’s funeral on Friday without another family member having to miss out.

In an emotional call to Neil Mitchell, Cheryl Fox, Jarrod’s mother, said there has been “no compassion” in the state government’s handling of the situation.

“We have contacted Brett Sutton’s office to ask for an exemption because he is being breast-fed,” she explained.

“All we got back was a generic email that had a reference number on it and just listed all the rules, and said no.

“It’s heartbreaking.”

Press PLAY below for the emotional interview.

3AW Mornings was overwhelmed with calls from generous listeners offering to pay the fine if the family exceeded the mourner limit.

Then, at today’s COVID-19 media conference, Premier Daniel Andrews revealed baby Jasper would not be included in the 10 mourner limit at his father’s funeral.

Mr Andrews has indicated the mourner rule may be tweaked to exempt babies under one year of age at all funerals.

Neil Mitchell called Cheryl Fox back to let her know about the change.

“This has taken one less layer of pain and burden off us to carry through to Friday,” she said.

“We also hope that it can help others.

“We are just so appreciative.”

Press PLAY below for Cheryl’s reaction to the backflip and her message for Victorians who have supported her family.