Drive safe to stay alive

Kathleen Mullally is lucky to be alive.

Almost 30 years on from the fatal car accident which killed her parents outside their family home in Redmond, the Albany mother is still piecing together the moments before and after her life changed.

Her mother and father, Daniel and Mary, were in the front seats as they pulled out onto Verne Road from their family farm on the way to Ms Mullally’s Saturday morning music lesson, on February 18, 1984.

A truck collided with their sedan, killing her parents and critically injuring her and her brother Dennis.

Given little chance of survival, she was flown to Princess Margaret Hospital in a critical condition with serious head injuries, facial lacerations and a broken arm, plus neck, pelvis and back injuries.

As the 30th anniversary of her parents’ deaths approaches, Ms Mullally, now 37, is constantly reminded of the trauma she suffered, by empty seats at the dinner table on Christmas Day.

With the official police festive road safety campaign starting tomorrow, Ms Mullally urged drivers to take time to ensure they arrived safe at their destinations.

But she also wanted to reassure people who have experienced the tragedy of losing loved ones that there was hope after such heartbreak.

“When I got into my 20s I knew I had to keep going … you’ve got to think there is a life ahead, grab it,” Ms Mullally said.

Ms Mullally said she struggled to remember much about the crash, but the truck driver was not to blame and she had come to deal with the trauma with the help of counselling.

“I’ve made the best of it with my kids, but it’s still very empty,” she said.

“I’d love to have them (my parents) here physically to have Christmas and see my girls.”

Ms Mullally said support services such as Kids Central now played a valuable role helping children deal with grief.

“There is now so much more recognition for children who go through trauma,” she said.

“There wasn’t any counselling when I was seven and eight, and we needed some.”