Friends and sporting clubs have paid tribute to those still unaccounted for after the Hunter Valley bus tragedy, with seven of the 10 deceased confirmed to be locals in the town of Singleton, including a mother and daughter and a promising junior doctor.
Communities up and down Australia’s east coast were left reeling as the identities of those yet to be accounted for began to emerge on Tuesday.
Statements were issued overnight and into Tuesday paying tribute to Nadene McBride and her daughter Kyah, footballers from nearby Singleton; Kane Symons, a local footballer and lifesaver previously from Tasmania, former footballer Andrew Scott and his wife, Lynan Scott, local junior doctor Rebecca Mullen and investigator Darcy Bulman.
Mullen’s former employers at Calvary Mater hospital paid tribute to her work, as. did the state’s health minister and her former football club.
The hospital said its staff were shocked at the loss of a “passionate” and “well-respected” clinician, hitting particularly hard as the loss came as the hospital was caring for other injured wedding guests.
Calvary Mater general manager, Mark Jeffrey, said that it was providing support to both Mullen’s colleagues and other staff who had treated the injured.
“Dr Mullen was a passionate clinician, well-respected by her peers and we offer sincere condolences to her family and friends at this very difficult time,” Jeffrey said.
“We continue to provide support to Dr Mullen’s colleagues and our staff who provided care to others involved in this incident.”
Mullen, like many at the wedding, was a keen sportswoman. She ran, played football, kayaked and hiked. Her old football club, the Armidale-based New England Nomads, described her as “wonderfully talented” and offered its sincere condolences to her friends and family.
“Bec was an extremely active member of the club, a wonderfully talented sportswoman and a friend to all who knew her,” the club said.
The state health minister, Ryan Park, said news that NSW Health had lost one of its own made “a dark day even darker”.
“Our focus now is on putting all of our support around her family, loved ones and her friends,” he said. “We’ve lost one of our own. Someone who was obviously going to have a long and illustrious career in medicine has been taken way too early and on behalf of the NSW community.”
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Queensland’s Redland-Victoria Point Sharks Football Club described Andrew Scott, a Singleton local known as Chisel, as a “terrific member of our community both on and off the field”.
“Chisel, as he was known, played for the Bombers in 2014 alongside his brother Luke. He also was a longtime player at QAFL level with Mt Gravatt, where he was part of the Vultures’ 2007 premiership team.
“He was a terrific member of our community both on and off the field and was characterised by his big heart…
2023-06-13 07:47:18
Source from www.theguardian.com
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