It was Christmas Day when Launceston mother Karolyn Colquhoun had to identify her daughter’s body after she had been killed in a crash.
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Georgee ‘Gee’ Lunson was 19 when she died on Christmas Eve in 2014.
She had finished work and gone to a friend’s house to help him put up his Christmas tree.
After falling asleep on the couch she woke up at midnight and decided to drive home.
That was when tragedy struck.
Georgee was almost home when an animal ran across the road in front of her car, causing her to swerve, lose control and crash.
It was only a kilometre from her Blackstone Heights house, but her mum heard nothing.
“I was asleep around the corner when my child was losing her life,” Mrs Colquhoun said.
It was when police knocked on the door at 3am that Mrs Colquhoun realised Georgee was gone.
She immediately felt “utter fear”.
“I kind of had an outer body experience … I was desperate for it to be a dream and not be my Georgee,” she recalled.
“My heart just hurt.”
Mrs Colquhoun tried to call Georgee’s dad, Phil Lunson, to give him the news.
“I just couldn’t tell him, so my husband Andrew had to,” she said.
She then had to tell Georgee’s teenage brother, Cooper, his sister had been killed.
“It was horrific … he was in disbelief. There were no tears at first from him, it was almost like he just wasn’t getting it, it was like he was in shock.”
On Christmas morning, the family had to go to the Launceston General Hospital where Georgee’s body had been taken.
“I had to identify my child, who was lying on a tray, dead .. I kept saying to her ‘too soon, Gee, too soon’.”
The tragedy changed Christmas for the family.
“I don’t think Christmas Day is the traditional day anymore, it’s Georgee’s day,” Mrs Colquhoun said.
“We have a little tradition for her now ... this is the first year we are starting to do Christmas activities again … it’s taken three years to get to the point where I’m open to being involved in the traditional Christmas Day.”
Sharing her devastating story as part of The Examiner’s Christmas road safety campaign, In Your Hands, Mrs Colquhoun is urging drivers to “think about other people”.
“I’ve been through the pain of losing a child through a car accident and whilst it wasn’t directly her fault, the grief and the pain is still there. If she had lost her life to a drink-driver, it would be no different, the grief would be the same.
“I can’t stress enough that people just need to be aware of other people and their family members.
“I now have to get up every morning and put on a bunny suit because I have to put on a smile, put on my wife face, my mother face, but underneath all of that lies a very raw pain.”
If you or someone you know has been impacted by a road tragedy, Road Trauma Support Tasmania is available on 6777 6252.
Melissa Mobbs
A journalist with more than a decade of experience, Melissa Mobbs currently works as the Deputy Editor for The Examiner Newspaper in Launceston, and has a strong background in reporting on crime and the justice system. Send tips to Melissa.Mobbs@examiner.com.au or on Twitter via @melissamobbs.
A journalist with more than a decade of experience, Melissa Mobbs currently works as the Deputy Editor for The Examiner Newspaper in Launceston, and has a strong background in reporting on crime and the justice system. Send tips to Melissa.Mobbs@examiner.com.au or on Twitter via @melissamobbs.
