Lucy Milward talks after Zachary David Wilson dies in Mooloolaba crash
An inconsolable young bride-to-be is grimly arranging a funeral instead of putting the final touches on an Australia Zoo wedding with her soulmate following a freak crash that killed him as he worked.
Sunshine Coast
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Instead of helping her soulmate pick his tux for their wedding day, a grief-stricken bride-to-be was cruelly tasked with choosing the outfit her dead fiance would be dressed in for his final goodbye.
Seven months out from marrying the love of her life and 24-year-old Lucy Milward has been dealt the cruellest blow.
Her soulmate, fiancee, and partner of four years was killed in a horror freak crash on the Sunshine Coast while at work on Friday, October 4.
Zachary David Wilson, 27, of Little Mountain, was working as team leader for a landscaping company which sub-contracted to the Sunshine Coast Regional Council.
His best friend, a member on his landscaping team, was working with him at the time.
An initial police investigation indicates about 11.35am, a ute towing a caravan was travelling north on Brisbane Rd when it veered into oncoming traffic and struck five vehicles including a parked car, which was pushed into Mr Wilson.
A Queensland Ambulance Service spokesman said it was understood the man driver of the dual cab towing the caravan suffered a medical episode. He and his female passenger were taken to hospital in stable conditions.
His best friend pulled Mr Wilson out from under the car and held his head in his lap while they waited for emergency crews.
Mr Wilson was rushed to the Sunshine Coast University Hospital in a critical condition.
His heart was still beating but his brain had died upon impact.
Lucy’s mother, Jody Milward, said her daughter was too heartbroken to speak.
“There’s just no words to adequately describe what happened. She’s devastated. It was a monumental loss,” Mrs Milward said.
“He didn’t deserve this.
“It’s just so senseless. It should never have happened.”
Mrs Milward said her future-son-in-law loved his job, but he loved her daughter the most.
“He loved his job and the people he worked with and being outside,” she said.
“He had recently been promoted to team leader. He was driven at work and determined to provide for Lucy.
“They were saving for a house and their wedding.
“His best friend who saw it all happen is so traumatised.
“Everyone who saw it was.”
The young couple had been living with her parents for the past two years, in a self-contained unit, to help them save for their future together.
“They met just over four years ago through mutual friends and connected right away,” Mrs Milward said.
“They were just made for each other. Soulmates from the start.
“He fell in love very quickly and knew she was the one for him.”
On January 21, 2023, excited and nervous, Mr Wilson proposed.
“We were on a family holiday together in Canada skiing when he asked her to marry him,” Mrs Milward said.
“He’d asked for our blessing beforehand so we knew it was coming.
“He asked her on the very first day there.
“He was just so excited he couldn’t help himself.
“It was beautiful.”
Through tears, Mrs Milward said her family felt incredibly privileged to have known him.
“We were so privileged to get to be there and to have him in our lives,” she said.
“He was just so special and beautiful.
“Zachary loved Lucy so much.
“Even though the trauma to his head killed his brain instantly his heart kept beating. He held on waiting for her to say goodbye.
“She had time to say her goodbyes to him in hospital. To have those last cuddles and moments with him.
“We were trying to hold out for a miracle that maybe the next scan would show some improvement but in the end they had to turn off his life support.”
On Monday, October 7, Lucy’s father, who worked at the hospital, wheeled his bed away as they said their final goodbyes.
“Zachary was so loved,” Mrs Milward said.
“He also loved cars. He was so smart, he knew a car and its engine just by the sound it made driving past.
“He was so charismatic. Had such a friendly smile and was so warm. He had such a fun and quirky sense of humour and was always helping us out at home.”
Preparations for the wedding were in full swing in the lead up to his untimely death.
“He never got to see her in her wedding dress,” Mrs Milward said.
“She has the dress and now he’ll never see it. They talked about it and how excited he was and how he knew he was going to cry when he first saw her that day.
“Now we’ve had to cancel the wedding.
“They were booked in to be married at the Crocodile Hunter Lodge (at Australia Zoo) on May 8 next year.
“He wanted to marry her in nature. He loved nature and was studying horticulture while working as a landscaper.
“When they first met he had been in the air force for a few years, which was his lifelong dream. But after meeting her he could not be apart from her and returned to civilian life.”
A police investigation into the crash continues and no charges have been laid.
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