Heartbreaking details of 16yo Swift fan’s fatal crash on way to concert

The last thing 16-year-old Mieka Pokarier had open on her iPad before she died was a Taylor Swift playlist she had spent hours creating. Mieka, her sister and her mum were on a dream road trip to see Swift concerts in two states when they crashed.

The last thing 16-year-old Mieka Pokarier had open on her iPad before she died was a Taylor Swift playlist.

She spent hours creating it, filling it with all her favourite songs from the pop star she saw as her hero.

She would need hours’ worth of music as well — the Queensland teenager had a 17-hour drive ahead of her as her family made their way from the Gold Coast to Melbourne and then Sydney, a Taylor Swift pilgrimage to see their hero in person.

They never made it to the concert.

Instead, there were three empty seats at Taylor Swift’s opening Melbourne performance, after the family of Swifties were involved in a tragic car accident.

Mieka Pokarier, 16, who died, with her 10-year-old sister Freya, who is fighting for her life.

Mieka Pokarier’s iPad survived the crashed and showed that last thing she had puled up with her carefully curated Taylor Swift playlist.

The teen, her 10-year-old sister Freya and her mother Kim Litchfield were travelling from Queensland to Melbourne to watch the superstar perform when their vehicle collided with a semi-trailer near Dubbo just before 6pm on Thursday.

Mieka died at the scene, and her sister, identified as 10-year-old Freya Pokarier, was flown to Westmead Hospital where she is fighting for her life in a coma with brain injuries, a damaged pelvis and broken leg.

Scene of the crash. Picture: Kirsty Ann Russell

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There were three empty seats at Swift’s first Melbourne concert where the trio would have been. Picture: Getty

Their mother, who was driving, was taken to Dubbo Hospital with minor injuries.

“It should have been a dream road trip,” Mieka’s godmother Karleigh Fox said.

Mieka Pokarier, 16, was a keen diver and gymnast.

Freya, 10, was excited about buying new Taylor Swift merchandise.

The heartbroken woman spoke to The Sunday Telegraph, revealing the family was just 30km away from their accommodation in Dubbo, where they were planning to spend the night, when tragedy struck.

“They had been talking about this since before they got the tickets. They spent eight hours refreshing their screens hoping to score tickets and were over the moon to land tickets at both Melbourne and Sydney venues,” she said.

Karleigh Fox with her god children, Freya and Mieka.

Mieka Pokarier called her beloved cat Mr Perfectly Fine after a Taylor Swift song.

Ten-year-old Freya was especially excited to buy new merchandise after she outgrew her 1989 t-shirt.

Ms Fox said that Mieka was shy, but an excellent diver and gymnast, whose favourite album was 1989 (Taylor’s Version.)

She had no fear; she was so determined. They were both such beautiful, vivacious girls and Taylor Swift was empowering them,” she said.

Ms Fox said that Mieka’s entire life was Taylor Swift, from the songs that filled her ears, to the cat she named Mr Perfectly Fine, after a Taylor Swift song.

She had just gotten her first job and learner’s driving licence.

Ms Fox set up a GoFundMe for Mieka, which has already received more than $20,000 in donations.

She said that she and the girl’s parents were astounded by the outpouring of community support.

“We are speechless and emotional. We have such deep gratitude. We want to encourage people to donate blood as well because we had to give Freya eight blood transfusions and we are so grateful for that,” she said.

Donate to the GoFundMe here

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Originally published as Heartbreaking details of 16yo Swift fan’s fatal crash on way to concert