Funeral for ‘little angel’ held hours after critically injured mother dies

Mourners grieve after the service.

Mourners console each other after the service. Photo: Amanda Wilson .

MOURNERS shared the pain at the funeral of a Nhill teenager yesterday, knowing the girl’s mother had died hours earlier from injuries she suffered in the plane crash that claimed her daughter.

A distraught Len Twigg had to prepare for daughter Jacinda’s funeral after being rocked by the news that his wife Julie-Ann had died in the Royal Melbourne Hospital.

Julie-Ann, 43, was critically injured in the Angel Flight crash that killed her 15-year-old daughter and the plane’s pilot, Don Kernot, a fortnight ago.

Family members carry her coffin.

Family members carry Jacinda’s coffin. Photo: Amanda Wilson

As he prepared with family to farewell his daughter, Mr Twigg posted a touching message to Jacinda on his Facebook page on Sunday night.

”My heart is breaking although I put on a brave face, your memory lingers so clearly in my mind,” the post said.

”Jacinda we will see each other again, the tears will flow some time, hopefully I am not alone, but then I never am, you are always with me … love you eternally … Daddy.”

Julie Twigg.

Julie Twigg died yesterday before the funeral.

Hours later he was told that his wife, who appeared to have been recovering from head and chest injuries, had died.

Friends, family and workmates in the tiny west Victorian town had pulled together to support the Twigg family.

”He is just struggling to come to terms with it all,” Dean Miller said after visiting Mr Twigg before the funeral.

Jacinda Twigg.

Jacinda Twigg.

The chief executive of the Hindmarsh Shire Council, where Mr Twigg works, said locals had rallied to help the family through the death of Jacinda and would be there again to offer their support.

”It is just devastating news for Len Twigg and his family. Julie-Ann appeared to have been on the road to recovery, but it is even more tragic that she died on the day of her daughter’s funeral,” Mr Miller said.

Mrs Twigg had suffered swelling to her brain and lesions to her spleen, kidney and liver.

Mr Twigg said last week that she had woken from the coma and asked about Jacinda, but he did not want to tell his wife their daughter was dead until after she had recovered from surgery.

He suspected she knew her daughter had died.

Jacinda and Mr Kernot were killed when the plane that had transported Jacinda to a medical appointment in Melbourne crashed in a paddock at Wallup, about 40 kilometres north of Horsham, on August 15.

You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

Leave a Reply

Powered by WordPress | Designed by: Premium WordPress Themes | Thanks to Themes Gallery, Bromoney and Wordpress Themes