GOVERNOR-General of Australia Peter Cosgrove is among the mourners to gather at the funeral of Stephanie King and her two children.
General Cosgrove arrived at Elevations Church at Tweed Heads in his state car a few minutes ago, one of hundreds who have gathered to pay their respects to the family of Ms King and her children who tragically died on April 3 when their car plunged into the Tweed River.
Speaking to media as he entered the grounds, Tweed MP Geoff Provest remembered Ms King as a “very lovely person”.
Mr Provest, who knew Ms King as a former employee when he was general manager at Tweed Heads Bowls Club, said it would be hard for the family to come to terms with their loss.
“With the floods we can rebuild, but that family can’t rebuild,” Mr Provest said.
Describing Chloe-May, 8, the young daughter who escaped the wreckage to raise the alarm, as a “brave little girl”, Mr Provest said he was proud of how the community had pulled together in the wake of the floods.
“I’m proud to be apart of a community that is supporting Stephanie, Matt and Chloe,” he said.
A Go Fund Me page set up to help raise funds for Mr Kabealo by his work colleagues has raised $132,030 of their $150,000 target to date.
Chloe-May and her father Matthew Kabealo met NSW Governor Peter Hurley when he toured their devastated village of Tumbulgum on Monday, and took them up in his helicopter for a tour of the region.
Today’s service will be led by Tumbulgum’s Living Waters Pastor Rob Stuttle, a friend of the family who had taught scripture to the three children at Tumbulgum Public School.
Ms King will be remembered as a hero after the brave efforts she went through to try to save her children as her car skidded off Dulguigan Rd into the river at North Tumbulgum on Monday, April 3, in the days after the floods that devastated the Tweed Shire.
Online Source: The NEWS