Grieving Mum hopes for change

IT’S been seven months since Kim Dorsett lost her son and daughter in a tragic accident on the Thunder River Rapids ride at Dreamworld.

Family friend Sandra Brookfield said Mrs Dorsett’s life was plagued with “what ifs”, but she never wanted to see the theme park sent broke or torn down.

“What happened (at Dreamworld) has been hard for everyone to get over, whether you knew those who lost their lives or not,” she said.

“It’s been seven months and no one knows when the inquest will be finalised, but one thing most people agree on – something needs to be done ... something has to change.

“Kim doesn’t want to see them (Dreamworld) go bankrupt, she understands there are livelihoods at stake.”

On October 25 Kate Goodchild, 32, her brother Luke Dorsett, 35, his partner, Roozi Araghi, 38, and Cindy Low, 42, all died when the raft they were travelling in flipped at the end of the once-popular Thunder River Rapids ride.

Kate’s daughter Ebony, who was 12 at the time and Cindy’s son Kieran, 10 at the time, were miraculously thrown to safety.

Ms Brookfield, who has been an official spokeswoman for the Dorsett family since the tragedy, said Mother’s Day earlier this month had been particularly hard.

“Kim was asked how she was feeling and all she could say was, ‘devastated’ ... Ebony is 13 now, she is struggling without her mum, and baby Evie has turned one, without her mummy who she will now never know,” she said.

Ms Brookfield said her friend’s fierce wish was for Dreamworld to be rebranded, to be a landmark and an attraction, without rides.

“Kim has told me she would love the theme park to become a zoo, it would be a fitting tribute to those lost,” she said.

“It’s the rides that make people think twice ... that bring them back to what happened.”

Meanwhile Roozi’s mother, Vivien Gay Araghi, said she couldn’t comment on the future of the park without answers.

She said her focus was on the outcome of the inquest into the deaths, which was due later this year or early next year.

“We miss him every day, it’s just too hard,” she said. “He lived in Canberra for 11 years and I never worried about him.

“Just before he died ... he came up nearly every week.

“Both our sons are still going to counselling over it.

“My husband and I don’t believe in counselling, but we’re hoping to move, because everything reminds us of him.”