‘They touched the community’: Tributes for the Clark’s from only surviving son after horrific crash
Paul Clark was on holidays overseas when the news reached him that his mother and sister were dead and his father was fighting for his life.
SA News
Don't miss out on the headlines from SA News. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Paul Clark is slowly coming to terms with the devastating reality that he’s the only surviving member of his immediate family.
His father, John, mother, Cynthia, and sister, Jacqueline, were travelling in a Honda on Tuesday, October 31, when they collided with a van at the intersection of Templeton Rd, Blyth Rd and Black Range Rd at Everard Central, in the state’s mid-North, at about 5.20pm.
Jacqueline, 54, from Jamestown, and Cynthia, 84, from Clare, tragically died at the scene.
Four days into a four-month long holiday in Bangkok, Paul received a distressing call from his uncle, alerting him to the catastrophic accident.
Paul said he went in to a state of “utter shock” after the call, and quickly rushed to be by his father’s bedside at the Royal Adelaide Hospital.
“He said that mum and Jackie didn’t survive and dad was in a critical condition,” explained the 58-year-old.
“I was destroyed and just in a daze until I came back to Australia.”
Six days after the crash, John, 86, succumbed to his injuries and died in hospital on Monday, November 6.
“At first (it was) just utter shock and horror, then the grief slowly sets in,” Paul said.
“The tears come and go and then it’s just a matter of waiting for the funeral.”
Paul said he expected his parents to “live well into their mid 90s” because of their “healthy and active” lifestyle.
“Because they were so strong. To me, it’s like the closest thing to feeling like you’re burying your own kids,” he said.
“And then my sister, she was 54, so she (should have had) another 30 years to live her life.”
Now, he’s anxiously dreading the day he has to lay his family to rest.
“Once the funeral happens and it’s time to get up and talk, I have to use every strength I’ve got not to collapse,” Paul said.
Paul said he was getting through the unfathomable tragedy thanks to the outpouring of support from family, friends and the Clare community, where both his parents lived.
More specifically, he said his daughters Karla, 35, Demi, 27, Gabbie, 26, his son-in-law Hayden, and his ex-partner’s mum, Judith, have been a “Godsend”.
“They’ve been an absolute pillar of strength, and my little granddaughter (Dana),” Paul said.
“All mum and dad’s friends, even my friends (that) I went to school with or played footy with 30 years ago, they had a relationship with them (and) dad was like a second father to them.”
Paul said he last saw his parents on October 23, when he drove down to Clare to spend time with them.
“Then on the Friday, dad rang me and said have a good trip,” he recalled. Paul jokingly told his father: “Do you want to come with me?”
“That week I had with mum and dad, and I (also) stopped to see Jacquie on the Sunday (as) I was coming down to Clare,” he said.
“That would be the last and they were all happy memories, just having a chat and catching up.”
Paul described his mum, who worked as a nurse for over 60 years, as a woman who “ruled with the iron fist (but) had a heart of gold and kept everyone in line”.
The last time they spoke, he said Cynthia was hesitant about his trip to Bangkok.
“I said to her, I’m going anyway. I’d love to go with your blessing but you know me, I’m going anyway,” he said.
“I said, ‘I’ll come back a month earlier if you meet me in Singapore’. They were going to come here and I was going to take them to WA to see the kids.”
Paul described John, who worked as a stock agent, as a social and outgoing person who played golf and was a popular member of the Clare Golf Club.
“Dad was more out there, mum was more down the line,” he said.
“He loved travelling, he’s a very very good cook and loves Asian food.
“Jacquie was the same, she would just travel the world and talk to anyone and everyone. They could be on the street or wherever (and) they’d talk to everyone.”
Paul remembered Jacquie as a free-spirited, globaltrotter who once travelled the world for about 15 years before moving to Jamestown.
“We weren’t normal brother and sister, we didn’t fight, were just best mates and there for each other,” he said.
Paul said he hoped his family would be remembered for their unique “characters and personality”, and their willingness to help their community.
“Everyone who talks to them remembers them,” he said.
“We used to go to Woolworths almost 15 times a day and just talk to everyone.
“They touched the community just by being themselves.”
After the funeral, Paul said he expects the grief to “linger” forever.
“If they had passed away from old age, that would have (hurt) less,” he said. “But this will sit with me forever because of how it happened.”
Now, the retired warehouse storeman and administrator plans on flying to the Philippines to stay with close friends.
“I (planned on) spending my time in Australia between the kids, mum, dad and overseas. That was going to be the rest of my life,” he said.
“And when they started getting ill-health and couldn’t cope, I wouldn’t put them in a home, I was going to look after them,” he said.
“When the kids are gone (to WA), they’ve given me the blessing to go back overseas because I don’t want to stay here.
“I can’t go to Clare and stay in that house … not over the Christmas period.”
By November this year, 96 people had been killed on SA roads.
Paul is calling for a revamp of our state’s road and driving rules, particularly at the same site that killed his family.
“We seem to be having more accidents now, when I grew up I never had one person die in a car accident … no mates lost, no parents, nothing,” he said.
“When something like that happens at a certain area, someone needs to look into it and what they can do to make that intersection safer.
“There’s nothing you can say, there’s no magic to bring them back, but maybe something good can come from it like education and testing.”
The 28-year-old driver of the van was charged with two counts of causing death by dangerous driving and two counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving.
He was bailed to appear in the Adelaide Magistrates Court on January 17.
Join the conversation
Spineless act leaves Black Ops vet gutted
A Black Ops Veteran who built a safe space for ex-soldiers after losing six mates to suicide has been gutted by the selfish actions of others.
Read more
Touching tribute as footy fans flock to remember Robran
Poignant scenes have graced Prospect Oval as South Australian football legend Barrie Robran is honoured at a special tribute match between North Adelaide and Port Adelaide.
Read more