Al-anwar Newspaper English news in Australia
A mother was running errands ahead of her baby’s special event this weekend, when she and her two children were killed in an horrific car crash.
Tragic details emerged how Katrina Prahastono, 34, was making final preparations for her daughter Ivy’s traditional Islamic celebration to be held on Saturday, when she died alongside her son Kai, 2. The mother and her kids were heading home after a morning of party planning, when their car was hit by a fully-laden cement truck at Menangle Park.
Baby Ivy, just three-months-old, was the only one to be pulled alive from the wreckage and bravely fought for life in hospital for 36 hours, before she died in her dad’s arms, early on Wednesday morning.
Devastated relatives told The Daily Telegraph this weekend should have been a happy celebration for the family, as they held Ivy’s aqiqah – a Muslim ceremony held after a baby is born to thank Allah for the blessing of a healthy child. “It’s unfathomable…Kat was incredible. There’s really no one else like her….she was so excited for her daughter’s aqiqah,” the relative said.
“We were all meant to be going to their place on Saturday.”
Now, the wider family will instead gather to say farewell and support a distraught and “broken” Mr Prahastono.
Mrs Prahastano’s sister Diana Effendi set up a fundraiser to help cover costs of burying a “devoted mother, wife, sister friend” and her precious two children.
“This beautiful family resides in the south west of Sydney and has loved everything about this area, dreamed of raising their children here and called this community their forever home,” Mrs Effendi said. “Your prayers and any amount that you can donate during this difficult time will be so helpful in easing the burden on Ilham (Mr Prahastono) and his family.”
Mr Prahastono was supported and comforted by his brother and sister at the hospital, and again as he arrived back at an empty home.
The marketing account manager was at work when police notified him his family had been involved in an horrific crash on the Hume Motorway, about 30km from their Denham Court home. Police said they were still not clear on why Mrs Prahastono’s car appeared to be performing a U-turn through an emergency bay on the motorway moments before it was T-boned by a truck.
The 48-year-old truck driver was taken for mandatory blood and alcohol testing, but no charges are expected to be laid.
