Buxton crash: Victim’s father speaks out after five lives lost to unspeakable tragedy
John Van De Putte’s “baby girl” Lily texted him on Tuesday afternoon. By the time he received it, she and four of her school friends had been killed in a car crash the community is struggling to make sense of.
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It’s a six-word text message that will haunt a father for the rest of his life.
John Van De Putte’s “baby girl” Lily, 14, texted him asking “Dad, can i go out tonight?”.
But Mr Van De Putte was in hospital and didn’t receive the message.
“The answer would have been no, it was a school night, but I never got the text,” he said.
By the time he was out of surgery and got his phone back, it was too late.
Lily, Tyrese Bechard and three friends were all passengers in the vehicle which slammed into a tree at Buxton on Tuesday night, killing them.
The alleged driver, their friend Tyrell Edwards, 18, survived. He was surrounded by supportive family and friends on Wednesday morning as the country community tried to make sense of the tragic accident.
Through tears, a brave Mr Van De Putte said he felt no anger towards Mr Edwards who he only knew of as a friend of his daughter.
“I’m not angry with him, he’s going to go through hell as it is,” he said.
Paramedics found Mr Edwards curled up in shock beside his mangled vehicle. He was able to speak to them while he was being treated for minor injuries, then taken to hospital for routine tests.
Family members of the five victims gathered to farewell the teens by the crash site in Buxton on Wednesday afternoon.
Several members were seen embracing and supporting each other as they laid flowers and said their final goodbyes on East Parade.
‘Simple Man’ by Lynyrd Skynyrd was fittingly heard echoing in the background as the family members linked arms and bowed their heads in silence. The famous U.S band also lost members of their own to a crash.
While some family members departed the scene after paying respects, others looked completely shattered as they sat in sadness struggling to come to terms with what had happened to their loved ones.
The sobs of a heartbroken mother brought strangers to tears as Antonio Desisto’s mum Belinda looked at the stretch of grass where her boy took his last breaths, and cried.
His dad, Joey, knelt down to read tribute cards, before the emotion became too much and he buried his head in his hands.
Friends posted tributes on social media for the lost five, while others wrote cards and placed them at the crash scene.
“Fly high ... Thank you for all the fun memories and you’ll never be forgotten,” a friend posted on Instagram.
Another posted: “Rest easy mate” on a victim’s Instagram account.
On a card left at the crash scene, a simple message read: “Love you ... You brought so much happiness.”
Friends revealed two victims were soccer players well-known in Bargo.
“We know them all, they are all great kids...this is just a terrible, terrible accident,” a local soccer club spokesman said.
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