Mum reveals how car killed her daughter in childcare centre car park
The mother of three-year-old Charlotte Smithers has broken her silence on her daughter’s horrific death, shedding light on what caused her car to reverse and kill Charlotte outside her Epping daycare centre.
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A heavily pregnant mum said she was trying to turn on the airconditioning in her rental car when it hit and killed her three-year-old daughter outside her Epping daycare centre.
Amanda Furner, 26, has blamed the tragedy that claimed Charlotte Smithers’ life on a possible mechanical fault with the vehicle.
The mum, who is 34 weeks pregnant, said she can’t escape the trauma of the deadly October 14 “accident” and is not strong enough to return to their Broadmeadows home.
Instead, she is staying in a motel where she is tormented by “flashbacks”.
“I can’t sleep. I am having flashback nightmares and can’t eat properly,” said Ms Furner.
“I can’t go back in to the house where we lived as it’s too hard.”
Ms Furner drove with her three others children to Kiddy Palace in Epping to pick up Charlotte about 4pm.
She put her three kids in the car before starting the engine so she could turn on the airconditioning as it was a hot day.
Tragedy struck when the car began to reverse, fatally striking Charlotte as she stood in the carpark.
Charlotte died at the scene.
“I know 100 per cent the car was in park with the handbrake on,” Mr Furner told the Herald Sun.
“I went from my door to Charlotte’s door and was about to put her in (the car) and that’s when the car went back.
”I remember seeing Charlotte laying on the concrete getting CPR from an amazing kinder lady. She had blood all over her.
“The kinder ladies told me I was hoping her and screaming for help.”
Ms Furner was also struck by the vehicle and was taken to hospital for treatment.
The circumstances surrounding the tragedy remain the subject of an active police investigation.
No charges have been laid.
Ms Furner claimed the rent-to-own car had mechanical problems prior to the incident.
She said she is currently considering her legal options.
“I took it to my own mechanic to get him to check on the car and he told me the car was not roadworthy,” she claimed.
“I took it straight to the company that owned the car and told them about the issues they had the car for over a month I only got the car back a week before the accident.”
A GoFund Me page has been established to help support the family of Ms Furner, who is unable to work due to her “risky” pregnancy.
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“I can barely function on a basic level at the moment,” she wrote on the fundraiser page.
“I was doing it tough financially before … if you are able to contribute any amount whatsoever towards helping me and my kids restart in a fresh rental and finish organising for my baby, I will be forever grateful.”