Kim Dorsett in her own words …
Five harrowing years on since our precious daughter Kate, our loving son Luke and his devoted partner Roozi were taken from us far too early.
It seems like yesterday, and at times it feels like a lifetime ago. The brutal reality is this is a life sentence, ever present, eating away at our daily lives – from the knock on the door from two beautiful policemen that should never have to tell a mother her two children had been killed on a theme park ride, to the funeral two weeks later. As Roozi’s father said to me once, “The easiest part of this was burying them.”
I have heard from people who mean well: “Now that’s over, you get to move forward and get on with your life and get some closure.” These words evoke a feeling in me of sadness and despair. It is the same as when people say, “I understand” – I want to say how lucky you are that you don’t understand, and hopefully never will, as you have not walked in our shoes.
I realise that while this is living my worst nightmare, there are others with stories just as heartbreaking as mine. To lose a child or children is never a thought in any mother’s head. I treasure the precious time I spent with them, blessed to hold them for 32 and 35 years. Some mothers are not so fortunate.
During this time, Luke would have turned 40. He loved life, and didn’t he love a party! With a group of his closest friends and colleagues, we went to lunch and commemorated his 40th birthday. We laughed and we cried, recalling the funny times and how quickly those memories could end with so much sadness.
We celebrate all three birthdays during the year with cupcakes and tea for Roozi, beer for Kate and bubbles for Luke. I visit the cemetery each week and chat away about everything that has happened and all the gossip from the world of TV and celebrities.
Luke loved a good gossip and would be chuffed he’s made it into the pages of New Idea!
Kate’s girls, my two granddaughters, continue to grow and develop into beautiful young people, just like their mum, who was the best mother any little girl could wish for.
Ebony is in Year 12 and almost finished her school life. She was busy exploring Year 7 high school in 2016, playing netball just as her mother did at the same age, when her whole world turned upside down. Our littlest one was just a baby while we were in Queensland. Two days after we returned to Canberra without her mother and uncles, she bravely crawled for the first time.
There have been many first milestones her mum has missed. She is nearly through Kindy and reminds me so much of her mother, Kate, who had a heart of gold. We have often visited the cemetery together, and I always find her chatting to her Mummy Kate, her Uncle Luke and Roozi (until recently, she called him Susie!). Those boys loved the girls as their own – they were their little angels.
One of those beautiful policemen who knocked on my door that day remains a huge part of our lives. We can never thank him enough for his extraordinary kindness – he too is a victim.
Plans are being prepared for a memorial garden at Dreamworld Park marking the fifth anniversary since the accident. It’s still hard to believe three mothers lost their children that day. We remain close to Roozi’s family – they’re wonderful souls. We honour another tragic victim too, loving mum Cindy Low – a woman we never knew, but as families, are united in grief. The saddest part – this could’ve been avoided.
This special garden, designed to change with the seasons, is not a final chapter. It is to be a place where we can go and remember our precious loved ones, a place to reflect on the good times we had together and, most of all, to let them know they will never be forgotten.