Grieving mum recalls final conversation with her teenage son Levi-Jackson Furnivall before he was killed in horror highway crash
A distraught mother recalls the last words her teenage son said to her before he was killed when the car he was in crashed into a tree.
Levi-Jackson Furnivall, 17, was in the back seat of a red Mitsubishi Magna sedan when the car left the Tonkin Highway at Martin in Perth’s south-east at about 1.40am last Thursday morning.
The vehicle overturned and struck a tree at approximately 1:40 a.m. The teenager was trapped in the vehicle and could not be revived.
Nine hours earlier, Levi-Jackson had last told his mother, Atariki Simon-Whararapa, that he and some friends were going out to check on a partner.
While she is grateful that the 19-year-old driver and the other 18-year-old passenger suffered minor injuries, she struggles with the loss of her son.
“I know he was with his mates… he hadn’t heard from one of his best friends all day, and they wanted to check on him,” she said. The Western Australian.
“The accident happened at 1am, but he left at 5pm and said it wouldn’t be long.”
Ms Simon-Whararapa said she had not heard from her son and ‘couldn’t get hold of him’ so she texted one of his friends but he didn’t respond either.
Levi-Jackson Furnivall, 17, (pictured) was a rear-seat passenger in a red Mitsubishi Magna sedan when he died after the vehicle left the Tonkin Highway at 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
She had no idea what had happened to Levi-Jackson until she got into the shower later that morning.
The teen’s mother said she and her family are “just devastated” and can’t believe how suddenly he was taken from them.
Mrs Simon-Whararapa recalls how she had helped her son sort out his tax number a few hours earlier, before he started training to become a mechanic.
The family’s beloved son and brother were in their home before the accident and were “laughing with us and joking with his sister.”
Levi-Jackson had a 13-year-old brother and a 7-year-old sister and was described as someone who always had a lot of energy.
The forgiving mother said that despite being “hurt,” she was not angry with the young driver.
The mother said she has not had any contact with her son’s friends since the tragedy.
She wanted them to know that they didn’t have to be ‘afraid’ of her. She said that she was ‘angry about the situation’, but they weren’t.
The car left the highway before flipping over and hitting a tree at around 1:40 a.m. last Thursday morning. The scene of the accident is shown in the photo.
Police are investigating the cause of the accident (photo of the accident scene)
Mrs Simon-Whararapa wanted people to celebrate the life of her beloved son.
There was a lot of sadness online about the popular 17-year-old.
“My brother is gone way too soon. I never thought I would lose a friend. I just didn’t expect this to happen,” one of his friends wrote.
Parts of the Tonkin Highway remained closed Thursday morning as emergency services investigated the scene of the crash.
If you have dashcam footage or witnessed the accident, please contact Western Australia Police.