Crash victim’s father reveals tragic final goodbye with daughter Lily

The father of one of the victims in last week’s tragic crash has revealed he hugged his daughter one final time as he left their home for surgery.

The father of one of the victims of last week’s crash that killed five teenagers in Sydney’s southwest said his daughter was so worried about him before he went into surgery that she hugged him as though she’d never see him again — before she tragically died.

Lily Van de Putte — one of five teenagers killed in the crash in Buxton — rushed out to hug him and was told not to fret as it was a minor operation.

“As I was leaving for hospital, I gave her a kiss and a cuddle and I played some weird music to annoy her,” John Van de Putte tolf Daily Mail Australia.

“Then she ran out into the driveway to give me a hug, and I left.”

John was in hospital under sedation when Lily, 15, sent her last text to him, asking: “Dad, can I go out?”

When he woke up, he learned his daughter was dead.

Mr Van De Putte said he knew something was wrong when woke up on Wednesday afternoon to find a large number of missed calls.

“I saw her text and thought: ‘There’s no use texting that is there? That’s done and dusted’,” he said.

His son came into the hospital room crying and Mr Van De Putte said he just knew his daughter had died.

Lily had been in a car with her friends Tyrese Bechard, Summer Williams, Antonio Desisto and another teenager who cannot be named for legal reasons, about 8pm on Tuesday.

The Nissan Navara ute was being driven by Tyrell Edwards, 18, when he allegedly lost control and hit a tree on East Parade in Buxton.

All five passengers, aged between 14 and 16 years old, died at the scene. They had all attended the same high school in Picton.

Lily, along with four other children, died in a car crash in Buxton on September 6.

John was in hospital under sedation when Lily sent her last text to him, asking: ‘Dad, can I go out?’

The 18-year-old driver and sole survivor — Tyrell Edwards — has been charged with five counts of dangerous driving occasioning death.

He was refused bail in Picton Local Court on Thursday to be remanded in custody.

Officers have already confirmed that they don’t believe alcohol was a factor in the incident, with Mr Edwards returning a negative breathalyser result at the scene.

On Thursday, a court was told that footage captured in the lead-up to the crash could be used to prosecute the driver. A magistrate was also told the 18-year-old had a history of speeding and multiple licence suspensions.

According to court documents, police located a video on Mr Edwards’ phone taken roughly an hour before the crash that showed him driving dangerously while travelling at speeds of around 90 km/h.

Counselling was also offered to the students and staff at Picton High School, where all five of the victims were enrolled.

Deputy Secretary for the NSW Department of Education, Murat Dizdar, described the situation as “extremely distressing and disturbing”, revealing the victims of the crash had been at Picton High School since Year 7.

“As the community in New South Wales would appreciate, it’s a deeply distressing phone call to get from NSW Police, where we find out over night that we’ve lost five young learners,” he said.

“What I do know is that the public education family galvanise and get behind each school community that confronts tragedy and that’s what’s taking place at Picton High School.”

Originally published as Crash victim’s father reveals tragic final goodbye with daughter Lily