A 15-year-old girl was so concerned that her wheelchair-bound father wouldn’t come home from surgery last Tuesday that she ran into the driveway to say goodbye and hugged him as if it was the last time they’d see each other.
Papa, John, tried to reassure Lily van de Putte that everything would be all right by giving her one last kiss and hug and saying, ‘Don’t worry about anything. It’s just a simple operation, I love you and I’ll see you tomorrow.’
When he woke up Wednesday after surgery, Lily was dead.
She was one of five teenagers killed when a Nissan Navara car slammed into two large trees on East Parade in Buxton, southwest of Sydney, just after 7 p.m. on September 6.
Lily van de Putte, 15, (photo) who died in a ute crash last Tuesday, along with four of her friends
Lily van de Putte is pictured with her father, John. He described her as an “empathetic” person who once served her own dinner to a homeless woman
Other victims include Lily’s best friend Gabriella McLennan, 14, along with Summer Williams, 14, Antonio Desisto, 15, and Tyrese Bechard, 16.
The alleged P-plate driver, Tyrell Edwards, survived with minor injuries and was subsequently charged with five counts of dangerous driving resulting in death. He was refused bail in Picton Local Court on Thursday.
Despite initial reports that most of the young passengers were not wearing seat belts, Mr Van de Putte claimed that all but one of the passengers were wearing seat belts.
Speaking to Daily Mail Australia, Mr Van de Putte fondly recalled his last conversation with Lily.
He was about to be taken to hospital for kidney surgery – a relatively standard procedure for people with multiple sclerosis, such as Mr Van de Putte.
“When I went to the hospital, I gave her a kiss and a hug and played weird music to annoy her,” he said.
“Then she ran up the driveway to give me a hug, and I left.”
John van de Putte (pictured with Lily) was in hospital when his daughter died in a car accident
Lily van de Putte (photo) stayed with her boyfriend’s family the night of the crash
Tuesday night, while unconscious, Lily—who was an aspiring electrician—sent him a text that said, “Dad, can I go out?”
He read that message on Wednesday morning and said he knew she was gone because he had multiple missed calls and his son entered his hospital room in tears.
Mr Van de Putte explained that his daughter was staying with Gabriella’s family the night of the accident as he was in hospital and her mother was in Melbourne to care for a relative who had suffered a stroke.
At about 7pm that night, the girls asked Gabriella’s parents if they could go get an ice cream.
They were allowed to go, provided Lily called her mother to ask for permission.
She never called her mother, but told her best friend’s parents that she did and that she was allowed to go out.
Gabriella McLennan is pictured on the left with her best friend, Lily van de Putte. They died together in a car accident
Gabriella McLennan (pictured) should never have been driven by a friend before last Tuesday
Van de Putte described Gabriella’s mother and father as “the strictest parents in the world” who decided to give their daughter some space and let her make the two-minute trip to McDonald’s for an ice cream.
Gabriella had never been allowed to drive a P-plate driver in the car until last Tuesday – before that she had only been driven around by close relatives.
The teens were allowed to go out for an hour, but the parents began to worry when the girls were not home by 8 p.m.
When calls to their phones went unanswered, Gabriella’s father went looking for them and tripped over the wreckage.
Lily’s father said he doesn’t blame Gabriella’s parents and has no ill feelings towards them “at all”.
“If I trusted parents, it would be them,” he said.
“Gabby’s mother is the most caring mother I’ve ever known, she would do anything for her daughter and she treated Lily like her own daughter.”
Lily van de Putte is pictured when she was a child. Her dad said she was incredibly talented at sports
Lily van de Putte wanted to become an electrician (pictured with a drill) when she left Picton High School
Lily’s older sister wrote a heartfelt tribute to the schoolgirl on Saturday: “You will never be forgotten, not in a million years. Not a day goes by that I don’t think of you.
‘The memories we shared, the laughter and the crying. You left our lives way too early.’
Gabriella’s mother reacted to her devastation: “I miss you so much Lils… You will be in my heart forever. You and Gabby were joined by the hip who was always smiling non-stop.’
“Tell Gabby I love her, in heaven.”
When asked how he will remember his daughter, Mr. Van de Putte gushed about how empathetic she was.
Lily once donated her McDonald’s dinner to a homeless woman to ask for money, and another time gave another homeless person a pile of blankets.
She was also a very talented athlete who often placed first or second in sports carnival races.
“When she finished, she would go off to help the kids who were having a hard time finishing it,” he said.
Tyrese Bechard (pictured right) and Summer Williams (left) also died in the car accident last Tuesday
Pictured: Antonio Desisto, 15, who died in a car accident with four of his friends on Tuesday
The father also recalled earlier periods in her life – after his multiple sclerosis diagnosis, but before he was in a wheelchair.
“Lily was about eight years old and I was falling all the time and every time I did she put a pillow under my head and knew she had to call the ambulance,” he recalls.
When he got an electric wheelchair, Lily would sit on his lap on the way to primary school.
When she got older, she would jump on her skateboard and cling to the back.
Mr. van de Putte traveled with Lily to about eight countries and said she was very curious about the world.
“She asked me about things she’d seen on TikTok and asked me if they were true, and then she googled it to find out more about it,” he said.
While he and Lily’s mother are divorced, Mr. Van de Putte said his ex-wife worked full-time, but always found time to do various art projects with her daughter when she got home — “no matter how tired she was,” he said.
Driver Tyrell Edwards, 18, was the lone survivor of the crash and has been charged with five counts of dangerous driving resulting in death
Mr Van de Putte plans to raise money to further educate local teenagers about road safety.
He also wants to lobby the state government to enforce tougher laws for P-plate drivers and tougher penalties for those who break the rules.
A family friend has a Go finance me campaign for Lily’s family after the tragic accident.
Police allege Edwards used his phone to film Snapchat videos of him dodging at 90km/h before allegedly hitting two large trees that split the ute in half.
Footage taken about an hour before the crash showed Edwards holding his phone while aggressively turning the wheel.
Court documents stated that loud music and laughter were also heard.
A man would have said, “We’re breaking up because.”
Witnesses claimed the car was traveling at ‘high speeds’ and was on the wrong side of the road before turning back to the right before the accident.
According to court documents, four of the teens were thrown from the back of the vehicle.
They were found ‘at close range, caught by confinement’.