Heartbreaking details of Mother's Day crash revealed
Heartbreaking details have emerged about the Mother’s Day crash that killed a 15-year-old girl and left six members of her family in hospital.
Father of the children, Matthew Marlow, has told of how the family were on their way to the beach when the tragedy struck.
“I was at home with my twin daughters, police came to the house and told me there had been a tragic accident and my eldest daughter was killed,” Mr Marlow said.
Fifteen-year-old Sophie, the eldest of all the children, was in the front passenger seat when the family car rolled at Bangor in regional South Australia on Sunday.
The airbags didn’t activate and she died instantly.
“She’s a bright young girl, had a future in front of her, I just can’t believe it’s happened,” Mr Marlow said.
All six children on board were wearing seat belts.
But seven-year-old Levi broke his back in two places and remains on life support.
“He had surgery and we need to wait for the swelling to go down to see if he’s paralysed – he’ll pull through, I’m sure of it,” Mr Marlow said.
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Mum Karlee, 35, was behind the wheel. She says she overcorrected after swerving onto gravel.
“She just feels guilty, blaming herself,” Mr Marlow said.
“I don’t blame her. That’s why they call it an accident. Accidents happen, they just happened to the wrong people.”
Mrs Marlow remains at Port Pirie Hospital with her four daughters.
Her husband says his wife is desperate to get to Adelaide to be by her son’s bedside but she’s too scared to get in a car again.
“I’ve just been travelling between two hospitals… I’ll stay strong for my family,” Mr Marlow said.
The mid-north community has rallied around the Marlows, raising almost $10,000 in a day.
