Katrina Brown: I was behind the wheel when I rolled my car and hit a tree in a horror crash that killed my two-year-old daughter Indie. Now I am forced to live with the guilt for the rest of my life
A heartbroken mother who lost her two-year-old daughter in a horrific car crash eight years ago has offered advice to traumatized families affected by road deaths.
Katrina Brown was driving through South Australia’s Yorke Peninsula on Good Friday 2015 when her Mitsubishi 4WD car left the road, rolled over and struck a tree.
In a speech for the World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims on Sunday, Ms Brown admitted: ‘I will bear my mother’s guilt until I meet her again.’
Over the Easter weekend of 2015, she, her husband Kingsley and their two children – Indie Rose and then five-year-old son Taj – were on holiday in Corny Point, a three-hour drive from Adelaide.
On April 3, Ms. Brown took Indie Rose and Taj for a drive to visit nearby family while Mr. Brown went fishing.
Heartbroken mum Katrina Brown (above) said she did ‘nothing wrong’ to cause the crash, but admitted: ‘I will bear my mother’s guilt until I meet her again’
Two-year-old Indie Rose Brown (above) died in a car accident in 2015. Her mother lost control of the car on a dirt road
However, she lost control on an unpaved section of North Coast Rd, forcing the ute off the road where it crashed into a tree.
Mrs. Brown and Taj survived the crash, but little Indie died instantly.
The devastated mum said she ‘did nothing wrong’ at the time of the crash but her daughter was taken ‘by the most tragic circumstances’.
“My fault is that of my own motherhood, that I couldn’t protect my daughter – not that I did anything wrong,” she said, The advertiser reported.
Ms Brown praised SA Police for the support they provided to her and her loved ones following the crash.
She has since started volunteering with South Australia’s Road Trauma Support Team and encouraged anyone suffering from the aftermath of a road fatality to get in touch, saying it will ‘make a world of difference’.
Ms Brown (pictured with Indie Rose) encouraged anyone affected by road trauma to contact support groups, saying it will ‘make a world of difference’ to their grief
Katrina Brown was driving through South Australia’s Yorke Peninsula on Good Friday 2015 when her Mitsubishi 4WD car left the road, rolled over and struck a tree
“I’ve spoken to a few parents and I think it’s very clear… you lose the sense of your old self, the old Kat is not here today,” she said.
“You have to rebuild yourself because you are a shell and you rebuild yourself into people who can coexist in a society without your loved one.”
So far this year, 101 people have died in 94 fatal crashes in South Africa, compared to 71 in all of 2022.
Another 747 people have been seriously injured in 645 road incidents in the state this year.