Christella Tan tributes: Burnside aged care worker mourned

A grieving husband has detailed some of his wife’s last words to him before she was killed in a horror crash only a kilometre from her home on the Sunshine Coast.

A grieving husband has detailed some of the last words he and his wife spoke to each other before she died in a horror car crash on the Sunshine Coast.

Christella “Stella” Tan, 52, an aged care worker, was killed after an allegedly stolen Mercedes collided with her Nissan Micra on Windsor Rd at Burnside on September 15.

The crash, which happened outside the Nambour Special School, was about one kilometre away from her house.

Ms Tan’s husband, Bernard Wee, said his wife was the love of his life and his soulmate.

The couple met in Indonesia before marrying five years ago.

Grieving widower Bernard Wee has detailed some of the last words his wife, Christella (Stella) Tan, said to him before she died in a horror crash in Burnside on September 15. Picture: Contributed

Mr Wee said a few nights before she died, he asked his wife if they would remain married in heaven.

“She replied, ‘yes, we will always be married in heaven’,” he said.

Christella (Stella) Tan and Bernard Wee. Picture: Contributed

“I didn’t realise that would be one of the last things she said to me.”

The grieving husband said the years they were married were the happiest and most memorable of their lives.

“This deep pain of not being together with her anymore will always remain with me for the rest of my life,” Mr Wee said.

The couple is active members of the St Joseph’s church in Nambour and Father Odinaka Nwadike said he would see the pair use sign language during the service.

Christella Tan died in a horror crash after an allegedly stolen Mercedes collided with her Nissan Micra on Windsor Rd at Burnside on September 15. Picture: Patrick Woods.

Mr Wee said Ms Tan had used American Sign Language before they met and she used hearing aids to speak with “hearing people”.

“When we met each other, we spoke orally as we immediately understood each other,” he said.

“Stella had surgery for her cochlear implant and then I had also surgery too.

“But she could hear more than me.”

Bernard Wee and Christella (Stella) Tan were married for five years. Picture: Contributed

Father Nwadike said Ms Tan was a “lovely” woman who was always smiling.

“They attended mass here every week and you could see her signing for Bernard because that is how she brings Bernard into the community,” he said.

The priest said Ms Tan, who was of Dutch-Indonesian heritage, would share prayers in Dutch during multicultural celebrations at the church.

“Stella never says no to anything you ask her to do,” Father Nwadike said.

The priest said the Catholic community would continue to support Mr Wee.

Funeral details were yet to be finalised but the priest said it would be held at St Joseph’s.

The man accused of driving the Mercedes, 26-year-old Caloundra West man Izac Kane Sefton-Bennett, allegedly left the scene on foot and was cornered by a group of good Samaritan residents, who stopped him from leaving in a different car.

He was later charged with 12 offences including dangerous driving causing death while under the influence and leaving the scene of a crash, and has been remanded in custody to appear in Maroochydore Magistrates Court on November 17. He is yet to enter a plea.

A growing tribute of flowers and other items, including a giraffe plush toy, has been left at the scene where Ms Tan died.

Flower tributes at the scene of a crash in Burnside, which killed 52-year-old aged care worker Stella Tan. Picture: Elizabeth Neil

This included a small succulent in a terracotta pot with the words “your kindness won’t be forgotten” and a small stone sculpture with “remembering you, so thankful you are in the loving arms of god” engraved in it.

Sunshine Coast resident Nari Conaolly was placing some flowers at the tribute on September 20.

She said she wanted to pay tribute to the aged care worker, who she did not know, because the crash had occurred so close to her former school, Nambour Special School.

“It’s heartbreaking,” Ms Conaolly said.

Nari Conaolly wanted to add some flowers to the tribute for Christella “Stella” Tan, 52, who was killed after an allegedly stolen Mercedes collided with her Nissan Micra on Windsor Rd. Picture: Letea Cavander

Mr Wee and Ms Tan’s former neighbour Sharon Prior said Ms Tan was a “sincere and genuine lady”.

“My partner and I are absolutely devastated and broken hearted to lose a gorgeous soul,” she said.

She described Ms Tan and Mr Wee as a “beautiful couple” who were always holding hands.

“(They) went for afternoon walks (and were) always doing the garden together,” she said.

Ms Tan’s death, which had tragically similar circumstances to that of a triple-fatality at Federal in July and another at Maryborough in April, sparked a public outcry begging for something to be done about car thieves killing innocent people on the road.

Originally published as Christella Tan tributes: Burnside aged care worker mourned