Women of the Year: Tara Brown’s mum carries heavy burden

As Christmas approaches for another year, Tara Brown’s mother faces the difficult job of telling her granddaughter what happened to her mummy who was killed by her ex-partner.

AS Christmas approaches Tara Brown’s mother faces the difficult job of telling her granddaughter what happened to her Mummy.

The six-year-old is yet to comprehend that her mother, 24, was run off the road, then savagely beaten to death in a terrifying attack on the Gold Coast in 2015.

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Tara Brown with her daughter. Picture: Supplied.

Tara’s ex-partner, former Bandido bikie Lionel Patea, is currently serving a life sentence after being convicted of her murder last year.

For now Tara’s daughter Aria understands her mother died in a car accident, but is yet to learn it was at her father’s hand.

The little girl still tears up sometimes, as she struggles to remember the mother she lost three years ago.

Soon Tara’s mum Natalie Hinton, who is raising her granddaughter, plans to take the painful first steps in revealing the trauma which tore apart her family.

“In the new year she’ll learn the first snippet of the story, which will probably be that her dad is in jail, then we’ll go from there.

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Tara Brown (pictured) passed away in 2015. Family say her daughter, now six, is growing to look more and more like her. Photo: Instagram

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“She will learn different parts at age-appropriate stages, as recommended by a counsellor.

“I’m not looking forward to her learning the story … it’s going to be hard for me to relive it all.”

Natalie said she hopes her granddaughter will know her full family history before she is old enough to Google search her mother’s name.

She said similarities between the pair are already quite striking.

“If she had darker hair, she would be the spitting image, and I see bits of her mum coming out in her personality at the same age, she’s very strong-willed,” she said.

“She gets a little frustrated that she can’t remember so we look at photos and sing songs that her and Tara used to sing together.”

Natalie Hinton with a photograph of her daughter, Tara Brown. Photo: Tertius Pickard.

Christmas is a tough time of year for the family, who remember Tara’s enthusiasm for the festive season.

Since the tragedy Natalie works tirelessly to raise funds for victims of domestic violence, through the Tara Brown Foundation, which she co-founded in 2016.

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This year the organisation has raised $35,000 for women’s refuges and sanctuaries to ensure people fleeing violence have the resources they need.

The DV Connect helpline reported a 300 per cent jump in contact from victims of domestic violence in the months after Tara’s death, with around 400 calls a day from people seeking help.

“These women never reported it or sought help before Tara, so some good has come out of this, it’s made women stand up and get help,” she said.

Natalie is a Gold Coast Women of the Year nominee for her charity work.

The Gold Coast Bulletin’s inaugural Harvey Norman Gold Coast Women of the Year campaign celebrates the city’s leading females.

Locals can donate to the Tara Brown Foundation here.