‘MY GIRL’S GIFT TO THE WORLD’

When her daughter died, Linda hit rock bottom – now she’s helping others face their grief

- Brigid Auchettl

It was a Wednesday like any other when Linda Goldspink-Lord received the phone call that would change her life forever.

School holidays were in full swing during July 2012, and her daughters Molly, 13, and Emily, 10, were riding their quad bikes with their friends around the family’s rural property in Wollongong, New South Wales.

Then, shortly after 1.30pm, Linda’s phone rang. It was Emily and there had been an accident in the paddock.

“I dropped the phone down and just ran,” recalls Linda, 55. “I saw Molly lying there and I knew straight away that she was gone. I didn’t know that level of pain could exist. There are no words to describe it.

“Saying goodbye to Molly is the hardest thing I’ve had to do in my life.”

SUDDEN TRAGEDY

With her husband Pete, 52, overseas at the time, Linda was forced to break the news to him about Molly’s shocking accident on the phone.

In the weeks that followed, life passed in a blur for Linda, Emily and big brother Riley, then 15. Having also recently lost her mother Ann to cancer and suffering her own major health problems, Linda admits she hit rock bottom.

“It’s like I went into survival mode and couldn’t think,” Linda tells Woman’s Day.

But she was determined to keep moving forward for her kids.