Bor Mabil fled a refugee camp for new life in Australia but her young life has been tragically cut short
Bor Mabil, along with Socceroo brother Awer, arrived in South Australia after fleeing a Kenyan refugee camp. She was a young, bright nursing student who had a “great life ahead of her” — but it was tragically cut short in a horror car crash on Saturday.
SA News
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The life of Bor Mabil, the sister of Socceroo star Awer Mabil, has been cut tragically short after the 19-year-old was killed in a car crash on Saturday.
Bor’s devasted family described her as a “great daughter with a great life ahead of her’’.
Bor had arrived with her family, including Awer, in Adelaide in 2006 after fleeing a Kenyan refugee camp.
She was a bright young woman with a contagious smile who had a knack for solving the problems of others.
She adored her older brother, Australian Socceroo and former Adelaide United star Awer Mabil, but her passion – to help others – was fostered far from the pitch.
Achieving high marks in her final year at St Columba College, the 19-year-old dreamt of becoming a nurse and starting her career at university this year.
But her life was tragically cut short in a car crash less than 2km from her family home at Andrews Farm on Saturday.
Bor was a passenger in an Audi sedan that veered off Andrews Rd and smashed into a fence near the intersection of Lillypilly Walk just after 12.30am. She was pulled from the wreck and attempts to resuscitate her were unsuccessful. She died at the scene.
Bor’s cousin and the family spokesman Manyok Ajak Mabil said the Sudanese community was devastated.
“We, as family and friends of Bor Mabil, we grieve at this time,” he said.
“Bor was a great daughter and young woman with a great life ahead of her.”
Unaware of the tragedy unfolding at home, Awer ran on to the pitch as a second-half substitute in the Socceroos’ 1-0 loss to United Arab Emirates in Abu Dhabi at the AFC Asian Cup on Saturday.
Family contacted the 23-year-old just hours after the match to break the news. The Socceroos are rallying around the forward as he prepares to make a mercy dash to Adelaide to be with his family.
His mother Agot is understood to be seeking help from the Australian embassy in Kenya, where she is visiting family, to get back to Adelaide.
The driver of the Audi, a 19-year-old Davoren Park man, and three other passengers suffered minor injuries and were taken to Lyell McEwin Hospital.
The driver was arrested and charged with aggravated causing death by dangerous driving and driving disqualified.
He was refused bail and will appear in Elizabeth Magistrates Court on Tuesday.
An 18-year-old girl who was the driver of a second car, which police allege was “travelling in company” of the Audi before the crash, was also arrested and charged with causing death by dangerous driving.
It is expected she will be refused bail and will also appear in the Elizabeth Magistrate Court on Tuesday.
Family and friends were inconsolable on Saturday when they returned to the scene of the crash to place flowers in Bor’s honour.
Many paid tribute on social media to “one of the most beautiful souls taken way to early”.
Isaac and Tace Shearing said CCTV cameras caught two cars driving alongside their house just seconds before the crash.
“I was in bed sleeping then we were awoken by a loud bang,” Mr Shearing, 27, said.
“My wife and I, we went out and we saw the crash and the house in pieces. It was shocking.’’
Mrs Shearing, 25, said Bor was pulled out of a car as distraught friends watched on. “They were just screaming and yelling,” she said.
Bor is the 10th person to die on SA roads this year, compared with five at the same time last year.
Bor Mabil celebrated her ‘happiest’ day just three months ago
By Val Migliaccio
THREE months before her tragic death, Bor Mabil described her brother’s Socceroos debut as one of the happiest days of her life.
Awer Mabil created history for the refugees of Kakuma – the world’s third-largest camp – when Socceroos coach Graham Arnold handed the South Sudanese refugee a debut against Kuwait.
He not only became the first known player to emerge from the Kenyan camp of 180,000-plus displaced people – where his parents fled from war-torn South Sudan – to become a soccer international, but within minutes of making it on the pitch for his debut, became the first to score a goal. Bor, another brother Mabil and mother Agot Dau Atem all watched Awer make history on TV at their Andrews Farm family home.
“I can’t believe it,’’ Bor said in October. “We’re so happy for him and for the family.”
Behind the Mabil family’s euphoria when he first played for the Socceroos was also a melancholic story of extreme hardship. Awer was born in Kakuma in 1995.
His parents fled South Sudan in 1994 during the Second Sudanese Civil War. Bor was also born in camp.
The siblings lost their father during the war before arriving in Adelaide as refugees in 2006. It was SA that gave the Mabils renewed hope.
Awer had plenty of soccer potential and nearly every day of the week, at the age of 13, he would catch a bus alone or sometimes with Agot from Andrews Farm to Kidman Park for training at the SA Sports Institute.
Awer made his mark on the A-League in 2013 with Adelaide United, two years after former Reds chairman Greg Griffin flew the prodigy to China, where he starred in the under-20s Weifang Cup.
Mr Griffin and his family helped the Mabils overcome many more obstacles when he landed a professional soccer contract after Awer earned a prestigious Martyn Crook foundation soccer scholarship in 2010. He currently plays for Danish club Midtjylland.
“Our hearts go out to this beautiful family in such a terrible time for them,’’ Mr Griffin said yesterday.
“They had the respect of everyone at Adelaide United the moment Awer was identified as the prodigious talent that he is.
“Without his family support, Awer may not have succeeded as he has.
“We took him to the Weifang Cup with us in 2011. In a team that produced eight A-League players, he was the standout.
“His family were pivotal in his rise to becoming a Socceroo. The whole football family is shattered by the loss of his beautiful younger sister.”
In 2014, Awer and Awer Bul – a keen videographer and former South Sudanese refugee – worked in collaboration with a TV station keen to endorse a start-up charity for the refugees of Kukuma. Awer and Awer Bul then met businessman Ian Smith before creating the Barefoot to Boots charity.
Before making his A-League debut, it was former Campbelltown City coach and current Croydon Kings assistant boss Maurice Natale who gave young Awer a chance to flourish in the local soccer competition in 2012.
Awer went on to claim three prestigious individual awards that helped shape his career including the Reds’ rising star award, national youth league player of the year and Football Federation Australia’s male player of the year in 2014.
Shocking toll prompts call for vigilance
By Ben Harvy
Motorists are being urged to take extra care this long weekend as South Australia grapples with one of the worst starts to the year on our roads in the past decade.
The death of Bor Mabil at Andrews Farm yesterday was the 10th on SA roads in the first 26 days of the year.
There were 10 road fatalities in total during January 2017 and January last year.
Not since 2015, when 13 people died on our roads, has the January road toll reached double figures.
RAA road safety senior manager Charles Mountain said the sudden spike in fatalities highlighted the volatility of the road toll.
“It’s very concerning because we’ve come from what was a reasonably low road toll in 2018 and yet we started the year quite badly,” Mr Mountain told the Sunday Mail.
“Every time people get behind the wheel or get on a bike, they need to be focused on the task of driving.”
Mr Mountain urged road users to slow down and be wary of their surroundings over the Australia Day long weekend.
He said crashes happened when drivers became complacent behind the wheel.
Six of the 10 road fatalities so far this year have happened in the metropolitan area.
Three of those six people – including Bor Mabil – have been under 20.
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