Amy Staunton’s mother Jennifer shares her unbearable heartbreak after a freak accident took her daughter’s life

An Australian mother has spoken of her grief over the loss of her “vibrant” teenage daughter after a freak accident while celebrating New Year's Eve on a barge.

Adelaide resident Jennifer Staunton said she “can no longer celebrate Christmas” because she feels her family is incomplete after 17-year-old Amy, the youngest of her three children and a passionate equestrian, died two years ago.

The family were on a private boat on the Murray River at Swan Reach when Amy, who was swimming, sat down a few feet from her mother in a gap created by an open gate in the fence surrounding the ship's deck.

“Mark, my partner and I were there and Amy came and sat with us, she was talking and just so happy… she just sat there and then she was gone,” Ms Staunton said. The Adelaide Advertiser this week.

Mrs. Staunton and her family believe they will never get a proper closure because the reason why Amy fell into the water remains unexplained.

'We were stunned and in disbelief. “Everyone was in shock…Amy was so strong, athletic and fit that it didn't make any sense,” she said.

Two other passengers on the boat, an adult friend and his teenage son, dove into the water in an instant, desperately trying to find Amy who had failed to resurface.

Despite it still being daylight, the pair could find no trace of her and a panicked Mrs Staunton had to be sedated and taken to hospital.

Police divers later found Amy's body after a 16-hour search.

A coronial inquest later ruled it an accidental drowning, with the coroner unable to find any trace of anything having happened to the teenager.

There were no visible injuries, no symptoms of a medical episode such as a seizure, and the toxicology report had come back clean and refuted some reports that Amy was partying.

Ms Staunton said that although police told her during the search that they remained hopeful that Amy had managed to swim to the riverbank somewhere, she said she knew – because of some elusive connection – that her daughter had disappeared before the search was over rounded.

The shattered mother said she still struggles daily to understand how her daughter, who she said was so incredibly full of life, couldn't be here.

'The hardest thing I do every day is get up, get dressed… I call it putting on my 'game face' so I can go out into the world, smile and do the little pleasantries. But it's definitely exhausting.'

Amy was remembered by those closest to her as a “gorgeous young lady” who always wore a bright smile on her face, especially around her beloved horses.

At the time of her death, her mentor and work manager Heather Currie expressed her shock at the teenager's death and sent her 'deepest condolences' to her family.

“Amy's daily smiling face, her energy and enthusiasm, her potential, her love and care for the horses will be greatly missed at Danson Dressage,” she wrote.

“Today we lost an angel.”

Amy's heartbroken sister Emily said her “beautiful sister left this world and became an angel.”

“Our world has been turned upside down and I refuse to believe this is real,” she wrote.

“We will never stop loving you, Amy. ️Forever young girl.'

Local skipper William Hoddle warned that the river contained debris and that the area into which the teenage girl fell was 'quite a dangerous place'.

“That's why you should always wear your life jacket,” he told the ABC.

Ms Currie said a prized Istan filly was named in Amy's honor to pay tribute to her dream of owning her own filly.

“She often talked to me and told me about her plans to breed or own an Istan foal, and about all the possible possibilities,” she wrote with a photo of the little foal.

“Danson Amy happens to be an Istan daughter and her character, kindness, courage and potential will always remind us how special Amy was.”