Queensland teenager killed, sister in coma after crash on family road trip to see Taylor Swift
The godmother of the teenage Taylor Swift fan who died in a crash while travelling to see the star in Melbourne has told how the victim’s younger sister is “not out of the woods yet”, while their mother has beaten her injuries to be at her bedside.
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The godmother of the teenage Taylor Swift fan who died in a crash while travelling to see the star in Melbourne has told how the victim’s younger sister is “not out of the woods yet”, while their mother has beaten her injuries to be at her bedside.
The Gold Coast family’s dream road trip to see Taylor Swift turned to tragedy on Saturday after a horror truck crash.
Mieka Pokarier, 16, died on Thursday while travelling to Melbourne with her mum and little sister, Freya, when they were involved in a crash with a semi-trailer near Dubbo in New South Wales.
Mieka died at the scene, and Freya, 10, was rushed to hospital where she remains in a coma with brain injuries, a damaged pelvis and a broken leg.
Their mum, Kim Litchfield, was also injured and taken to Dubbo Hospital, and has since scrambled to her youngest daughter’s bedside in Sydney.
Godmother to the girls, Karleigh Fox, said the family were on their way to see Taylor Swift perform when tragedy struck.
“This was supposed to be a road trip of a lifetime with them going to concerts in both Melbourne and Sydney,” Ms Fox said.
“She was a strong, empowered young woman who lived a life defined by her own rules, she had no fear, she was really determined.
“She loved learning how to drive, she could jump from these heights as a diver, what she could do when on the gymnastics bars was astounding.”
Mieka and Freya’s father, Peter Pokarier, paid to tribute to his daughter on Facebook.
“That’s my baby that died”, he said.
On Sunday, Ms Fox said Mieka’s mum had become well enough to be reunited with her “baby”, 10-year-old Freya who was still fighting for life in hospital after the crash.
“It was very emotional, it takes five people just to roll her to check for marks which could turn to bed sores from being in the same position in her induced coma,” she wrote.
“We are playing her favourite Taylor Swift album ‘1989 Taylor’s Version’ on repeat in her room and telling her about the merch we are seeing people buying online.”
On Sunday Ms Fox remembered her goddaughter as an “amazing” and “beautiful” young girl, just on the cusp of life’s greatest milestones when her life was tragically cut short.
Ms Fox said she had known Mieka and her family for 14 years and saw her “smart and creative” goddaughter discover Taylor Swift’s music and become a fan.
“She’s been a Taylor Swift Fan for over 10 years, and she loved maths, she loved pottery, she was always making people things with pottery and going to classes,” she said.
“She was very talented, she’s always been into creating loom bands and friendship bracelets.”
Ms Fox was with Mieka the day before the crash and said the 16-year-old had just finished a shift at her takeaway restaurant job, excited to hit the road and see her idol live for the first time with her sister.
“They spent like up to eight hours refreshing to try and get tickets, they’re really dedicated and they were stoked to get tickets for both shows in Melbourne and Sydney,” she said.
“Then to make a big holiday, it was supposed to be an 11 day road trip to catch up with friends and see the sights.”
“She had a best friend, the bestest of best friends and yeah, that’s gonna be really hard, I just can’t even imagine what it would have been like to lose a best friend at that age.”
The girl’s godmother said after some “thorough chats with the incredible doctors” about Freya’s potential prognosis revealed they were not out of the woods yet.
“The risks of swelling in the brain and infection are still evident, this could still be life threatening,” she said.
“We are keeping our girl in an induced coma for a few more days in order to give her body a chance to stay still and hopefully recover as much as possible.”
“The real work will begin of course when she is conscious and we will then see a whole lot of anxiety and distress from her and potential carer burnout for Mama, as that’s the person our girl is going to want the most.”
She said the girl’s mother was still “very sore, bruised up and slow.”
“Dad and big sis are amazing and we are all working together as a team navigating this process,” she said.
“We wish we had access to our 16 year old and hoping to be reunited within weeks to start our celebration of life that we haven’t even started planning yet.”
“Things you never think you’ll have to do….”
The heartbroken father also shared a link to a GoFundMe for his daughters, saying this is “my family and what I live for I’m devastated !!!!”.
An outpouring of tributes have flowed in the days after Mieka’s death, with friends spreading the hashtag #forever16.
Friend Cheyenne Craig said Mieka was learning to drive and had many plans for the future.
“How is it fair that someone as sweet and beautiful as you was taken away from us so soon?,” she wrote to social media.
“Mieka was the sweetest, most down to earth person you could’ve ever had the privilege of knowing, her stupid jokes that always made no sense but somehow always made you laugh … and the way we would spend the entire day talking about concerts.”
Another friend, Simone Medland, said Mieka was her light in the darkness.
“I was so happy to see you happy living your life and going to concerts. You deserved to be happy and there are so many people that care about you.,” she wrote to social media.
“I wouldn’t trade these last few years I had with you for the world and I wish I could just see you once more. We had so many plans of things we needed to do together and it’ll always be my biggest regret that we never got the chance to.”
On Sunday morning Ms Price shared an update on the GoFundMe for Mieka which has raised over $36,000.
“Whilst we navigate even just learning the layout of the hospital, process the complex trauma to our little one’s organs and process the deep loss of our 16 year old, we can exhale a little knowing that we can cover some basic costs for now thanks to your generous donations,” she wrote.
“As we stare down all of the potential ways forward our lives may change depending on potential brain damage of our little one and how we would get her to therapies now that the family has lost their car … man so many things to think about.”
Family and friends of the girls have also reached out to Taylor Swift, in the hope she will make contact with the 10-year-old Freya.
Distressing photos from the crash scene on Thursday show the truck on fire, with black smoke billowing into the air.
Police say the family’s SUV and a semi-trailer collided head-on along the rural road about 6pm.
A crime scene was established and an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the incident has commenced.
The driver of the truck was taken to Dubbo Hospital in a stable condition.
A report will be prepared for the Coroner.
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