Whyalla road crash victim Natasha Turnbull’s last words to her mum were ‘I’m 37km away mum’
“I’M 37km away mum”: these are the final words road crash victim Natasha Turnbull wrote to her mother, before the car she was riding in fatally collided with another.
MICHELLE Cholodniuk sat at home texting her daughter Natasha Turnbull who was heading back to Whyalla with friends after a road trip to Coffin Bay.
It was just after midnight on Monday and the chitchat centred on a new couch that Ms Cholodniuk had bought for the family’s Whyalla Norrie home.
It was about 12.20am when Ms Cholodniuk asked her 24-year-old daughter how far from home she was.
Ms Turnbull responded: “I’m 37km away, mum”.
It’s the last thing she heard from her daughter who was minutes later killed instantly when the Mitsubishi Pajero she was a passenger in crashed head-on with a white Nissan Patrol on the Lincoln Highway.
Her friend and driver James Moore, 24, of Bellevue Heights was also killed in the crash and friends Amy Jones, 23, and Jason Bristow, 25, both of Whyalla Stuart were seriously injured.
The driver of the white Nissan Patrol, a Whyalla man, 36, is also in hospital and is likely to face criminal charges over the crash.
Ms Turnbull and her friends had been in Coffin Bay looking at an archaeological dig.
Ms Cholodniuk said it was the visit from a police officer that cemented her fears after her daughter failed to come home.
“I later heard this noise and went outside and there was a policeman. He was at the wrong house and he came over,” she said.
“I wouldn’t let him inside because I knew what he was going to say — if I’m not told about it, it hasn’t happened.
“I don’t know if I can go on without her.”
Ms Turnbull — who was known as Tash — will be remembered as a strong woman who loved her friends and family and was proud of her new job as a postie for Australia Post.
She loved jazz music, British comedy show Black Books and The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.
Ms Cholodniuk said she gave her daughter an old copy of The Little Prince, and she loved it so much she bought copies for Mr Moore and Ms Jones.
“There are people all over Australia who have been touched by my daughter and messages from all over,” she said.
“How one little girl could touch so many in such a short time is astounding to me. The love that is coming from all over is so overwhelming.
“She was one of those people that who when you met her, you just loved her. She always put herself last.”
Ms Cholodniuk said the four friends involved in the accident had known each other for a long time.
“They’re all really close and they’re all decent kids,” she said.
“We just want her to be remembered for the girl she was and how much everyone loved her.
“I had to tell my seven-year-old granddaughter that her aunty was not coming home — I shouldn’t have to do that.”
Kieran Turnbull said his daughter could defeat him with a stare, but had a gentle soul.
“She could level me with a stare, tell me off” he said.
“She just loved everybody and went out of her way to make people happy.
“I suppose the only chink in her armour was that at times, she felt people didn’t love her. I don’t think she realised how much we all adored her.”
Her best friend of 12 years, Elizabeth Golebiowski, said Ms Turnbull had never done anything risky or put herself in danger.
“She always made sure she was there to protect everyone else,” she said.
“She was going to be the bridesmaid at my wedding one day and I was going to be hers when she got married.”
Ms Turnbull is survived by her parents, brother Kieran John Turnbull, 25, and two nieces.
Whyalla police Senior Constable Matthew McDonnell said the community was in deep mourning for Ms Turnbull and Mr Moore, who were well-respected in the Eyre Peninsula town.
“This tragedy has left several families devastated beyond belief and has left the community in shock and anguish,” he said.
“The emergency services were faced with a very difficult and emotional scene and then had heartbreaking task of notifying families.
“The officers involved will be supported at all times.”