Grieving mothers of horror Maryborough triple fatal crash victims share their heartbreak

The mothers of the victims of a horrific triple fatal crash at Maryborough, caused by a 13-year-old boy in a stolen car, have shared their pain after the loss of their beloved daughters. WATCH THE VIDEO

Susan Marcus cleans her daughter Kelsie’s bedroom everyday, keeping everything in its place – the exact way it was before she died in a horrific crash eight months ago that killed two other women.

Ms Marcus hasn’t touched the sheets Kelsie slept in before she died.

Her clothes are folded nicely, her photos are on the wall and her teddy bears are still on the bed.

Ms Marcus says the bedroom still belongs to her daughter, and she won’t let anyone else in her family sleep in there.

Jeanette Robertson, whose daughter Sheree died in the same crash, is yet to spread her ashes because she doesn’t want to let her go.

Her daily morning ritual has become looking at her daughter’s photo and cuddling her teddies – one that was taken from her bed, and the other one, which was pulled from her car.

Michale Chandler, the third victim of the crash, is forever remembered by her church community for the playroom she built a month before she died.

Every Sunday, it’s a place where parents and kids gather, including Ms Chandler’s own two boys.

In April, the three were all killed in a crash that sent ripples through the town of Maryborough in central Queensland.

In one car was 17-year-old Kelsie, 29-year-old Michale and 23-year-old Kaylah Behrens, all friends from the Reach Fraser Coast Church who were on their way to see a movie at Hervey Bay.

Kelsie Davies, 17, was killed in the horror crash.

Michale Chandler, 29, also died in the crash.

In the other car was Sheree, 52, a much-loved nurse at Maryborough Hospital, on her way home from work.

At the end of November, the 13-year-old boy who caused the deaths of the three women while he was driving a stolen car entered a guilty plea.

He is expected to be sentenced over the charges next year.

Almost eight months on, their families, friends and church community are all still reeling from the pain they say they may never get over.

Ms Marcus said she has still lost all joy from her life and doesn’t want to leave her house.

“I don’t want to socialise. I’ve just gone into my shell a lot. My husband said I’ve lost my spark,” Ms Marcus said.

“I am trying to get it back but it’s just that horrible emptiness.

“You think, how do you get joy back after that, and I don’t know how to do it.

“I’ll never feel pain more than that. Whatever hits me from now on til I die, nothing will be that painful.

“You can try and mask it, you can keep yourself busy, but the thoughts always track back to that, and then it’s the most horrible feeling.

“I know a lot of people who’ve lost children, it’s a tough gig.”

Susan Marcus at home in Oakhurst with the last Mother’s Day gift she was given by her 17-year-old daughter Kelsey Davies before she died. Picture: Lachie Millard

Ms Robertson said she still finds herself waking up from nightmares about the evening that will forever haunt her.

“My mind keeps going back to the crash,” Ms Robertson said.

“I might wake up through the night and I will just go ‘I should have been there and I should have been with her’, but naturally you can’t be because you didn’t know.

“But I still feel I should have been there for her. She’s with me every day, every day I wake up in the morning she’s there.

“I think of her, I see her photo, she’s still with us at the moment.

“I still haven’t spread her ashes as of yet – so that’s my little thing at the moment.

“I don’t know how I am going to let it go. Every day, every morning I think of her, there’s not one day that passes that I don’t think of her.”

Jeanette Robertson with a photo of her daughter Sheree, 52, who was killed in the horror crash. Picture: Lachie Millard

After the crash, nurses from the hospital still kept in touch with the family, telling them how much Sheree was missed.

Sheree’s brother, Glen Robertson, said his sister was dedicated to caring for elderly people. He said she played a big part in getting ratios for the retirement homes.

Kelsie and Michale also had a huge impact on the Reach Fraser Coast Church community. Kelsie had a passion for make-up and worked at Priceline, a job she loved dearly, but she gave it up to work at the church after she formed a big connection with her peers.

Michale also worked at the church with her husband Matt.

Two months before she died, she built a playroom for mothers and children to use every Sunday.

“I have the fortunate experience to be involved with all the families and they are still reeling,” Pastor Darron Hayhoe said.

“Michale had two little boys and a husband that she left behind, and they obviously are trying to navigate life without mum now.

“This is a huge thing.

“The community has done an amazing job and rallied around everyone.

“And there hasn’t been anything that has been too hard for our community to get involved with.”

Michale Chandler was a well-loved and respected member of her local church community.

Pastor Hayhoe said he still hurts every day.

“It’s something that I don’t think I’ll ever get over,” he said.

“And I think that personally for me and my wife, because of how intrinsically connected we were to this whole thing.

“We at that stage didn’t really get a chance to mourn too much.

“Because we had to go to work, there had to be someone that could keep a level head.

“And that was really hard. That was a really hard couple of months for us.”

Crash survivor Kaylah Behrens won her fight for life, and is now actively working to help the church community.

“A lot of people I’ve known have come out of this broken forever,” Pastor Hayhoe said.

“They are doing amazing. (Kaylah) is back highly involved in the community, back doing things that she shouldn’t have any right doing … (and) feeling grateful every day that she survived.

“And obviously there’s a lot of guilt that goes along with that too, she was the only one that survived the accident.

“So that’s huge … (and) no doubt that she will have to get help with that for the rest of her life.”

Fraser Coast nurse and mum Sheree Robertson.

Ms Behrens is the daughter of a well-known police officer in Maryborough.

Local Acting Superintendent Paul Algie said in a small community every fatal crash affects those on the frontline, with officers often delivering life-shattering news to people they know.

“It is the worst job a police officer can do,” he said.

“I’ve been in the police for over 20 years.

“And I can still remember every single time I had to knock on somebody’s door in the middle of the night, to tell them that their loved one wasn’t coming home.

“It is something that you never get over. You never ever forget it.

“What we did find, though, was an incredible amount of strength that was drawn from the tragedy.

“The community did come together, there was an incredible outpouring of grief at the site of the crash. And there’s a large memorial that still stands there.

“And it’s a good reminder, I think, not only of the tragic crash that occurred, but also how the community came together.

“And it made us feel more connected, I think, as a result, but the terrible impact, it still gets spoken about to this day, like it was just yesterday.”

This is an exclusive two-part video and story series highlighting the shattered lives left behind by the state’s deadly road toll.