Heartbreaking tributes to victims of Hunter Valley bus crash
Family, friends, colleagues and teammates have left floral tributes and posted online messages to remember the victims of the Hunter Valley Crash. LEAVE YOUR TRIBUTE HERE.
NSW
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As the sun set on the sombre Hunter Valley, what on Monday was just one bouquet of flowers placed in tribute to the region’s bus crash victims blossomed into a colourful makeshift shrine.
Dozens of family, friends, colleagues and community members travelled on Tuesday night to the site of the crash which claimed the lives of 10 people, as other vigils sprung up around the town of Singleton.
Local families with young children were among those who made their way down Tollbar Avenue near the fatal site with bouquets of flowers, wreaths and pictures to pay their respects to loved ones lost.
One woman carried a teddy bear for Newcastle doctor Rebecca Mullen, who was killed in the crash, leaving in tears after placing the stuffed toy.
“We are going to miss you” was written on the bear, which was adorned with a beaded necklace that read “Bec”.
Other vigils sprung up across Singleton on Tuesday evening, as the town comes to grips with its greatest tragedy.
Singleton Roosters players and supporters met on the cold field of their Rose Point Park home ground, paying tribute to their fellow Aussie rules teammates lost in Sunday night’s crash.
Usually the club’s men’s side would be hard at training on a Tuesday - but calls for the ball and the thwack of tackles was replaced instead by the silence of a club grieving the loss of its own.
Eight of the bus crash victims had close links to the club, including mother and daughter Nadene McBride and her daughter Kyah who both played for the Roosters.
More than a dozen footy club members gathered after 6pm, huddled around a mass of bouquets of colourful flowers left in the centre of an oval which has previously been the scene of so much enjoyment.
Those paying their respects to their teammates huddled around the pile of flowers, quietly talking to one another and intermittently embracing.
On the same night Singleton Baptist Church Pastor Andrew Allinson hosted parish members and local families for an “informal” prayer meeting.
“You get to times like this and realise what matters most”, he said.
“People have questions (like) how do I live with this.
“We want to have a space for people to grieve the mess, to reset maybe and also encourage each other to know you’re not alone, it can feel very lonely.”
Cessnock ambulance crews were among the mourners who travelled to the crash site to leave flowers for the victims on Tuesday.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with all the family and friends affected by this incident.
“We are honoured and simultaneously horrified to have been involved in such a traumatic incident,” a note on the flowers said.
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