EXCLUSIVE
Model Savana Calvo was left ‘unrecognizable’ after she was seriously injured in a horrific car crash months before she was found dead in the toilet of a Sydney brewery.
Calvo, 27, was a passenger in a car driven by her ex-boyfriend, record store owner Lorenz Prichard, when another vehicle ran a red light and crashed into it.
The other car crashed into the couple’s SUV, causing it to spin out of control before mounting a curb and plowing into the corner of a brick wall in February last year.
Savana suffered “major injuries,” as did her boyfriend and a pedestrian, Prichard said in an Instagram post at the time.
Photos revealed the twisted wreckage of the impact, which Mr Prichard said was an urgent wake-up call for him to cherish every moment.
‘Life is precious and fleeting. Everything can be gone in a second, so don’t waste your time or energy,” he said at the time.
‘Tell your family you love them! Live life to the fullest, be safe and kind to each other. Don’t take anything for granted.’
But in the aftermath of the accident, friends told Daily Mail Australia that Ms Calvo, 27, eventually walked with a cane, gained visible weight and stopped posting pictures of herself on social media.
Savana Calvo was a much-loved member of the inner-west Sydney community
The car Savana Calvo was riding in crashed into the corner of a brick wall
Another vehicle had spun out of control after being struck at an intersection, Mr Prichard said
“I saw her after the crash and she looked completely different,” said a friend. “I think she had a spinal cord injury, hence the weight gain.”
Ms Calvo, 27, was found dead at Young Henrys brewery in Newtown at around 11.30pm last Wednesday, more than four hours after the pub was believed to have closed.
Police say her death is not being treated as suspicious, but the circumstances leading up to it are under investigation.
Savana’s devastated family is now on a desperate mission to find answers about what happened to their girl that tragic night.
Ms Calvo’s parents, Daniel and Tatjana, told Daily Mail Australia the family was “devastated” by the tragedy and struggled to understand why their “beautiful girl” took her own life.
‘There were signs. A lot of things happened to her behind the scenes. But it is too early to say what exactly led to her death,” Calvo said.
‘(The police investigation) is now becoming far-reaching, but I can’t talk about it anymore at this stage.
“But I do think Savana is at peace now.”
Close family friend Adam St John-Foti has set up a GoFundMe page to ease the family’s financial worries as they come to terms with what happened to their beloved Savana.
Savana had seemingly disappeared from social media since the crash
Savana’s brother James, father Daniel and family friend St John-Foti paid loving tribute to Daily Mail Australia
To date, more than $30,000 has been raised to cover funeral costs and allow the family to grieve without having to worry about returning to work.
“Savana was a backwoods legend, a wise old soul and much loved,” Mr St John-Foti said.
“She helped everyone and her life is much celebrated.”
Funeral arrangements have yet to be made.
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