The news report was about my Micheal

I met my husband Micheal when I was only 16. By 18 we were engaged and we married in 2003 just before my 21st birthday. Our first year of marriage was a bit rough with my nana and my father both passing away within months of us being married. 2005 was a great year. Our daughter Emily was born late August, so 2006 was looking promising.

We were getting ready for the Easter long weekend when he left for his work at the abattoir on a Friday afternoon. I saw a news report around 4:30pm in the afternoon about an accident on the road my husband travelled on to get to work. I watched nervously as the news reporter said, "Four dead, one alive."

I immediately rang his work (where I had worked before I gave birth and knew everyone) and got put through to the Human Resources Manager. I knew straight away it was my husband who was killed although he couldn't tell me outright. All he could say was it was my husband's car gang.

It was almost five hours later by the time police officially notified me. It took so long for police to notify me because there was lots of blood and bodies mangled into what was once a large vehicle. The police informed me it was one of the most horrific single vehicle accidents that even seasoned police officers have ever attended.

With an 8 month old daughter to look after and my husband's Micheal funeral to plan, it was the worst week of my life. On top of that all the news reports, the photos in the newspapers, the claims and the lies that were circulating around made it even harder to deal with.

We had the funeral on the Thursday before Good Friday and over 300 people showed up, but it didn't make any difference knowing that the love of my life was lying there cold and lifeless in a coffin, never coming home to me or his daughter.

It turned out the driver was doing 160 km/h on a bad road overtaking another car. He lost control of the car, fishtailed across the road, hit a 3 metre ditch, flew through the air, snapped a telegraph pole 2 metres off the ground and landed 3 metres away on its roof. The car skidded across the road with so much force it ripped the entire front wheel and mag complete off the axle. Micheal suffered major injuries including partial decapitation. Luckily he was killed instantly. Stevie, Neil, Micheal and the driver Mick all died instantly and the other passenger Chris passed away in hospital a few days later.

Micheal died at the age of 26, leaving me 23 years old, and our beautiful 8 month old daughter.

I do not hold any ill feeling towards Mick. His family lost just as much as I did.

To the other families involved in this accident my heart aches every day for all our losses.  Some were the only children in the family, some were never given the chance to become mothers and fathers themselves, and they were all young and full of life.

PLEASE SLOW DOWN IT’S NOT WORTH THE 15 SECOND THRILL OF GOING FAST.

I think of Micheal every day and what he missed out on, but I know he is watching over us and protecting us from anymore harm.

RIP my wonderful husband, you will always be loved.

P.S. To everyone who attended the crash site (and some are my very good friends who still suffer nightmares from that horrible sight) police, ambulance, tow truck drivers. THANK YOU for doing everything humanly possible in such a horrific situation. Your jobs are not the easiest. Just because someone thinks they are invincible, you have to tell their loved ones that they are not coming home. YOU ARE ALL AUSTRALIAN TRUE HEROES.
 

The accident never stops

Asleep on a motorbike