Mother of tree death victim Alifia Soeryo accepts daughter’s posthumous university degree

Alifia Soeryo was loving her new life in Adelaide when tragedy struck while jogging in the parklands. Now, her mother tells how she is finally closing the horrific chapter.

Since flying to Adelaide from Indonesia earlier this month, Novie Badilla has twice visited the parklands site where a tree toppled over and fatally struck her daughter last February.

“Sometimes I want to go there every day and just sit there and wait for her to come back,” Mrs Badilla said.

“I will go into her room and I talk to her even though she’s not here. I call her ‘Iya’ – that’s her nickname – and I just say ‘Take care, I’ll be back soon. I know you are happy here’.”

Alifia Soeryo, 22, left Jakarta last year to study a Masters degree in communications at the University of Adelaide, holding ambitions to work in motorsport.

Alifia Soeryo tragically lost her life after a tree fell on her in the Adelaide parklands. Picture: Instagram

She got her love of cars from her father, according to Mrs Badilla, 56, who separated with her husband in 2011.

“Since then, we don’t really talk, but maybe six years ago we got that relationship back and she could communicate with him again,” Mrs Badilla said.

“They weren’t too close, but they could always talk about cars.”

On Monday, February 5, Alifia was jogging around the War Memorial Drive loop when she stopped for a breath under a native gum tree.

The trunk, which weighed about eight tonne and measured 15 metres tall, suddenly snapped. First responders arrived within minutes, but Alifia could not be saved, and her death sparked an ongoing SafeWork SA investigation into Adelaide City Council’s tree management policies.

On Thursday, May 9, Mrs Badilla closed a page in Alifia’s life story when she accepted her daughter’s degree in the stately, castle-like Bonython Hall on North Terrace.

Novie Badilla at the University of Adelaide graduation ceremony her daughter would have attended. Picture: Supplied

“When I went up, I felt like I was flying,” Mrs Badilla said.

“At first, I couldn’t imagine doing it, but it felt like someone was pushing me onto the stage. “If you see in the picture, there was a light coming from the window, the sunshine. When the ceremony started, there was no sunshine in the hall, but then it came through.

“Some people told me, ‘Maybe she was coming to me in that time’. I just didn’t realise it would happen like that – I wasn’t prepared for it.”

University of Adelaide Chancellor Catherine Branson presented her with Alifia’s posthumous Masters of Media majoring in strategic communications. Picture: Supplied

Mrs Badilla said she was surprised by how many friends and colleagues had attended a memorial service at the site in February, even though Alifia had been in the country for less than a year.

An emergency fundraiser raised more than $16,000 to repatriate her body, with the help of the Indonesian community in Australia and abroad.

“She was a very beautiful girl, she was very humble, and she kept a low profile,” Mrs Badilla said.

“She was easy going and calm. Even if people didn’t know her, they knew about her from university clubs or her Instagram.”

Mrs Badilla at her daughter’s memorial service, standing next to the spot where she was killed. Picture: Keryn Stevens

More than 100 people gathered at the site to express their condolences. Picture: Keryn Stevens

At a meeting with SafeWork officials, Mrs Badilla was told the investigation findings would be handed down within the next two weeks.

She is currently in discussions with a lawyer about options for compensation.

“I am not injured in my body, but I hope they can support me mentally with counselling,” Mrs Badilla said.

“Maybe they can help me as well on the financial side but I’m not sure yet.

“But what comes next and who will support me in the future? I don’t know.”

Mrs Badilla went to the site of the tragic death on her most recent visit to Adelaide. Picture: Supplied

In the meantime, Mrs Badilla said she had considered permanently moving to Adelaide.

“In the last few days, I feel this connection with Fia, even if it is very hard for me to be here,” she said.

“I started to think, ‘What if I worked here, what if there was some way to be here?’ But I don’t know.

“When I was in her (apartment) I felt this ambience. Even though she was only here for a year, I feel a lot of memories – it’s like she’s still here and not in Jakarta.”

Though her daughter has been laid to rest, she said it will still take some time for her family to heal.

“I am trying to calm my heart because it is broken, and I am just trying to do it piece by piece.”