Young Rockhampton mum, toddler killed in Bruce Highway truck crash
The Bruce Highway’s latest tragedy has torn apart a young family after a mother and her two-year-old daughter were tragically killed in a truck crash that has left the child’s father fighting for his life.
A heartbroken woman devastated by a truck crash that killed a young mother and her two-year-old daughter has shared her grief.
“My heart aches at the thought of never seeing your gorgeous smiles again,” Jessy Stickley said of the deaths of the Rockhampton woman and child who were passengers in a Freightliner truck travelling along the Bruce Highway.
“RIP darlings.”
She said two “more beautiful souls taken too soon”.
A woman whose son knew the family said “God has 2 more angels”.
“Our condolences to Bec as she lost her daughter and grand baby big hugs,” Rosalie Silk said.
The male truck driver, the father of the young girl, is in Rockhampton Hospital fighting for his life.
Family friend Alison Pace said two beautiful lives have been lost.
“Fly high beautiful girls,” she said.
“Unfortunately life is unpredictable, so hold our loved ones close, end your grudges and your hatred because life is way too god damn short.”
Alison described the 24-year-old Koongal father as a lovely guy.
The fiery crash partly or entirely blocked off the Bruce Highway at Canoona, north of Rockhampton, for more than 20 hours.
Traffic was banked up for kilometres after police and emergency services were called to the crash about 10.40pm on Wednesday night.
One lane was reopened after more than 12 hours, while the second lane was reported to be reopened before 8pm on Thursday.
Photos from the scene revealed the charred remains of a truck carrying vehicles.
A driver was flown to hospital with serious injuries after the fiery crash which sparked a fire along the highway.
The driver of a Mercedes-Benz truck, a 24-year-old man from Toongabbie, NSW, sustained minor injuries.
The CapRescue helicopter was able to land on the highway after the crash and flew a man in his 20s to Rockhampton Hospital with suspected multiple fractures and burn injuries.
A Queensland Fire Department spokeswoman said one of the trucks was well-involved in fire, which had caused a small grassfire nearby.
Four Queensland Fire Rescue crews worked to extinguish the fire truck while two rural crews assisted in containing the grassfire.
Anyone with information or relevant footage are urged to contact the police.
Bruce Highway’s shocking record for fatalities
The double fatality is the latest in a shocking run on Queensland roads in 2025 which has seen more than 250 fatal crashes, killing more than 270 people.
More than 15 per cent of crashes this year have involved heavy vehicles, despite them representing only two per cent of vehicles on the road.
Figures reveal more than 20 per cent of the fatalities have involved speeding, 14 per cent drink driving, 17.5 per cent drugged drivers, 7 per cent distracted drivers and 8 per cent fatigue.
As well as the fatalities, almost 2000 people have been put in hospital in crashes, 375 of which were attributed to distracted or inattentive driving.
Queensland’s rate of fatalities this year is at 5.48 per 100,000 people, compared to 4.29 in NSW, while the NT has a shocking record of 15.54 deaths per 100,000 people.
The Courier-Mail, together with regional publications across Queensland, last year led a major campaign to upgrade the Bruce Highway.
The Albanese Government in January pledged an additional $7.2bn to finish upgrading the highway and bring it up to a minimum three-star safety rating.
It marked the return of the 80-20 funding split between the Commonwealth and Queensland Government, with Premier David Crisafulli confirming the state would contribute the remaining 20 per cent of $1.8bn.
The bulk of the investment — about $5.5bn, or 61 per cent — will go toward wide centre line treatments including road widening and rumble strips to reduce the extraordinary number of head-on collision along the 1700km stretch.
