A distraught mother has recalled the last words her teenage son said to her before he died when the car he was travelling in crashed into a tree.
Levi-Jackson Furnivall, 17, was in the back seat of a red Mitsubishi Magna sedan when the vehicle veered off the Tonkin Highway at Martin, south-east of Perth, at about 1.40am last Thursday.
The vehicle overturned before hitting a tree at around 1.40am, trapping the teenager inside, who could not be revived.
Nine hours earlier, the last thing Levi-Jackson told his mother, Atariki Simon-Whararapa, was that he and some friends were going to see a friend.
While she is grateful that the 19-year-old driver and the other passenger, 18, escaped with minor injuries, she is struggling with the loss of her son.
“I know he was with his friends… he hadn’t heard from one of his best friends all day, and they wanted to check on him,” she said. Western Australia.
‘The accident happened at one in the morning, but he left at five in the afternoon and said it wouldn’t take long.’
Ms Simon-Whararapa recalled that she had not heard from her son and “couldn’t get in touch with him” so she texted one of his friends, who also did not respond.
Levi-Jackson Furnivall, 17 (pictured), was in a red Mitsubishi Magna sedan as a backseat passenger when he died after the vehicle veered off the Tonkin Highway near Gosnells Road East in Western Australia.
His mother described her 17-year-old son (pictured) as always energetic and “excited” to begin his mechanical apprenticeship.
I had no idea what had happened to Levi-Jackson until he was in the shower later that morning.
The teenager’s mother said she and her family are “heartbroken” and cannot believe how suddenly he had been taken from them.
Ms Simon-Whararapa recalled how she had been helping her son organise his tax file number before starting a mechanics apprenticeship hours earlier.
The family’s beloved son and brother had been at home with them before the accident, “laughing with us and joking with his sister.”
Levi-Jackson had a 13-year-old brother and a seven-year-old sister and was described as someone who always had a lot of energy.
The forgiving mother said that although she was “hurt,” she had no anger toward the young driver.
The devastated mother revealed that none of her son’s friends have been in touch since the tragedy.
She wanted them to know that they shouldn’t be “afraid” of her, saying that she was “angry about the situation,” but they weren’t.
The car veered off the motorway before overturning and hitting a tree at around 1.40am last Thursday. The scene of the accident is pictured here.
Police are investigating the cause of the accident (pictured is the scene of the accident)
Ms Simon-Whararapa wanted people to celebrate the life of her beloved son.
There was an outpouring of grief online for the popular 17-year-old.
“My brother left us too soon. I never imagined losing a friend. It was something I just didn’t think would happen,” one friend wrote.
Parts of Tonkin Highway remained closed Thursday morning as major accident officials examined the crash scene.
Anyone who has dashcam footage or who witnessed the crash is asked to contact WA Police.