'Freak accident': Woman killed by falling tree while driving
A Cairns mum has been killed after a falling tree hit her car in Far North Queensland.
Tammy Machen, 38, was hit by a tree while travelling on Gillies Range Road at Gadgarra, southwest of Cairns, on Saturday about 9.30am.
Her 26-year-old partner James Lude was taken to hospital in a stable condition.
She died at the scene.
The operation to extricate the pair involved police and the fire department using airbags to lift the debris before attaching branches to a crane.
QFES Assistant Commissioner John Bolger said “it was a terrible event”.
“(It was) one of those one in a million, just happened to be in the very wrong place at the wrong time and unfortunately, it’s a tragic outcome,” he said.
A GoFundMe page started by her brother Jason to support her son Shannon.
Mr Machen described his sister’s death as a “freak accident”.
Friend Gwen Griffith wrote Ms Machen had a “beautiful soul”.
“Tammy couldn’t have been more loved and that lasts forever,” Ms Griffith wrote.
Ms Machen’s cousin Danny Andersen wrote on Facebook he’ll never forget her “cheeky smile”.
A report is being prepared for the coroner.
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