Grief-stricken friends and family of Kylie Poyner have filled pages on Facebook as they try to come to terms with the death of the 17-year-old in a horrific car crash, Sunday, January 31.
Meanwhile tributes and flowers are already building up at the scene of the accident.
Kylie Poyner of Pambula, was ready to start a new year of study having enrolled at Eden Marine High School’s year 12 after returning from Nambucca Heads on the North Coast of NSW.
But her young life was cut tragically short in the car accident that left P-plate driver, Kylie, dead and her three friends, Ben Halfpenny, 13 and Michael Clark, 14 of Merimbula and Tegan Lloyd, 15 of Bemboka, seriously injured.
The crash took place just a kilometre north of Eden on the Princes Highway at 3.40am.
Travelling south towards Eden, the Hyundai Excell left the road and hit a tree at Little Bellbird Hill, with such force that rescue workers were initially unable to tell who had been driving the vehicle.
Captain of the Eden Fire Brigade, Zlatko Nemec, described the scene as one of the worst that he had seen in 26 years.
“What is hard about it for the emergency services is that they are all very young kids between 13 and 18 years of age and probably shouldn’t have been on the road.
It is not clear why Kylie was travelling to Eden at that time of night although there has been a suggestion by friends that she was on her way to pick up a friend from Eden.
The three friends travelling with Kylie have suffered extensive and serious injuries and were flown to Canberra Hospital.
Yesterday morning, Canberra Hospital reported that Tegan Lloyd, who attends Bega High School, was off the critical list. Her condition was said to be serious but stable.
Ben Halfpenny and Michael Clark both attend Eden Marine High School and are in a stable condition.
Ben is a member of the Merimbula-Pambula Bulldogs rugby league football club playing in group 16 and also plays cricket for Pambula’s Blue Heelers.
Close family friends say that Ben has considerable sporting talent and only recently spent a week with the Sydney Rabbitohs Rugby League Club after winning a sporting scholarship.
Ben had only transferred to Eden Marine High School from Lumen Christi this year.
Michael Clark also enjoys sport and played cricket for the Merimbula Knights under 14s team in 2008/2009 season.
At Eden Marine High School there were emotional scenes on Monday morning as students heard the terrible news about their friends.
Some students arrived in tears while staff shepherded others from the school bus.
Eden Marine High School student, Emma Gibbs, said: “Kylie was someone you could tell anything too. Everyone got along with her and she was very popular.
“You could rely on her and she was always there for you.
“Everyone knew her and there are so many people that will miss her. I know I’m going to miss her dearly.
Another school friend, Danielle Poyzer, said: “She was a really nice person and a great friend to have.
“Her loss is definitely a shock to us all and it’s going to be felt throughout school and the community. There are so many things I would tell her.
A spokesperson for the school said: “There are a lot of people in shock and they are providing counselling for students and staff.”
At Bega High School, where Tegan Lloyd was a student, principal, Jenne Gardner, had also organised counselling.
Friends set up a Facebook site as a tribute to Kylie which quickly filled with comments from friends offering their sympathies to the families and also recalling times past with Kylie.
Susanna Genot of Merimbula Psychology said that online networking was the modern way of connecting.
“It’s important to have a support network and to share stories between the people who are involved.
“People grieving may want to tell the same stories about their loved ones, over and over again. This repetition is natural and is part of the healing process,” Ms Genot said.
In amongst the condolences were the worried comments from parents of P-plate drivers.
One mother said: “Every time my son gets in the car I worry.”
As a first year P-plater, Kylie was prohibited from carrying more than one passenger under 21 years between 11pm and 5am.
Bega Valley Shire Council Mayor, Tony Allen, has also offered condolences.
“Words are not enough to convey the sadness we are feeling as a community - sadness for the young people involved, their families, their friends, their teachers,” he said.
“We can only pray for them all and offer our sincerest condolences.”
The twisted wreckage of Kylie Poyner’s Hyundai Excell has been taken to the police holding yard where it will be examined by police and motor mechanics and be available for the coroner to see if necessary.
In the meantime police will be waiting to speak with the three passengers involved in the accident, as soon as they have recovered sufficiently although police accept that this may take some time.
Email a friend
Favourites
Del.icio.us
Facebook
Digg
StumbleUpon
MySpace
Reddit
Newsvine
LinkedIn
Kwoff
Twitter