Dad breaks silence on daughter's drowning near family boat on Hawkesbury River
The devastated father of a young girl who drowned in Sydney’s Hawkesbury River has broken his silence, sharing a touching poem in tribute to his daughter.
Steve Soetekouw took to his Instagram page to share several verses alongside a picture of a desert flower and his daughter, Zeinobiyah, three, whose lifeless body was pulled from the river near Brooklyn on Tuesday.
“To our Desert Flower,” he began.
“Like a Desert Flower, our heart emerges from harsh domain. And like that flower, it can not blossom until deep roots have grown.”
Mr Soetekouw lived onboard their seven-metre yacht Sumbawa with his wife Beccie and their 10 other children, with the Tasmanian family travelling around Australia since December 2016.
The family documented their travels through a series of social media accounts, while Ms Soetekouw regularly blogged about their adventures.
The father’s poem references a journey of growth, taken “blindly through the darkest depths”.
“Discovering along the way, water, that soothes dryness of the soil . As with understanding and wisdom, along its way, the sun calls to it.”
He signed off the poem with: “All my Love... Dad,” alongside the hashtags #myuniverse, #valueeverymoment and #mybabygirl.
His tribute comes just days after photographer Alex Vaughan, who has been following the family’s journey over the last year, paid tribute to the young girl, who was better known as Zobbie, via her Instagram account.
“This week has been one of great sadness and community solidarity,” she said, calling Zobbie a “vibrant and cheeky little love”.
“As you can understand, this has been a very difficult time for the family. They have shown enormous bravery in the wake of their heartache.”
Ms Vaughan has since created a GoFundMe page to help cover funeral and welfare costs for the family.
Police investigations are ongoing and a report is being prepared for the coroner, a NSW Police spokesperson told Yahoo News Australia on Monday.
The family’s vessel was detained by police following the incident, with the family moved to separate accomodation during investigations.
The child was discovered about 100 metres from the boat at about 12.45pm, and is understood to have been in the water for approximately 20 minutes.
She was rushed to Mooney Mooney and flown to The Children’s Hospital at Westmead but could not be saved and was pronounced dead a short time later.
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