Actress and family were ‘gentle souls’
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The heroic actions of onlookers who tried to save the Falkholt family after a horrific Boxing Day car crash have been praised at the inquest into their deaths.
Home and Away actor Jessica Falkholt, her sister and her parents died after another car driven by a drug-addled driver failed to negotiate a bend on a highway as the family returned to Sydney from a Christmas event on the NSW south coast in 2017.
Witness described the cars as colliding with such force “they were pushed up to the air and momentarily formed a triangle”, the NSW Coroners Court was told during the inquest.
Husband and wife Lars and Vivian Falkholt died in the fiery crash. Jessica and her sister Annabelle were dragged from the wreckage by passers-by but died later in hospital.
Handing down her findings on Tuesday, NSW State Coroner Teresa O’Sullivan said the collision had horrified the community.
“The tragedy of the events was compounded by the fact that the accident occurred on Boxing Day, a day would many of us look forward to celebrating with our family and friends,” she said.
Given the graphic nature of the crash, Ms O’Sullivan paid special tribute to community members who attempted to free the family from the wreckage at “considerable personal risk”.
“The heroic actions of many community members and off-duty medical staff is notable,” she said.
“As (Vivian’s brother Paul Ponticello) noted, their actions provide him with the reassurance and knowledge that his family was not alone following the accident.”
During the inquest, family members described the Falkholts as “gentle souls” who were extremely close and devoted to each other.
The family was experiencing ongoing grief and an ever-present sense of loss, Ms O’Sullivan said.
“The tyranny of distance compounded their loss and a heightened sense of helplessness,” she said of the Falkholt’s relatives in Sweden.
The inquest heard the crash was caused by Craig Whitall, a long-time methadone program patient who had an array of medical issues and a terrible driving record going back to 1984.
A cocktail of prescription drugs was found in Mr Whitall’s system, which a forensic pharmacologist told the inquest would likely have caused “significant impairment of his cognitive and motor functions which would have resulted in impairment of his driving ability”.
Given the circumstances of the collision, it was easy to overlook the fact it claimed a fifth life, Ms O’Sullivan said.
“Mr Whittal may have had a troubled life and many flaws, but he was still part of a family who miss and mourn him,” she said.
