A grieving community has rallied around two young brothers orphaned after their parents were killed in the horror Hunter Valley bus crash earlier this month.
Ten wedding guests were killed, and another 25 hospitalised, when the bus taking them to their accommodation rolled while driving through a roundabout in the Hunter Valley about 11.30pm on Sunday, June 11.
Among those killed were Andrew and Lynan Scott (nee Muldoon) from Singleton, who left behind their sons, aged just two and four-years-old.
In the wake of the tragedy, a GoFundMe page was set up on behalf of the Scott and Muldoon families to raise funds to support the “betterment of the children’s future”
“The funds raised will be used to support these boys in any endeavour they wish to pursue in the future and also help with their ongoing living expenses,” the GoFundMe page reads.
And in little more than a week since the fundraiser was set up, $283,442 has been donated from more than 2300 people and businesses.
GoFundMe organiser Sean Mewing shared a thankful update “for the love and support” shown to the family through the page, writing “it is truly remarkable”.
“This fundraiser will stay open for the days, weeks, months and years ahead to always help contribute to the future of the 2 boys.
He also paid special thanks to the community groups, sports clubs, and workplaces who have reached out and offered to hold their own fundraisers in the coming months.
In an earlier post, Mr Mewing said the families were taking “immense pride in the connections that Andrew and Lynan had in communities far and wide”.
“The generosity is overwhelming and the family would like to thank everyone for the love and care shown towards Andrew and Lynan’s sons and the extended family,” he wrote on the page.
Along with the thousands of donations, big and small, people have shared heartfelt messages of sorrow and happy memories of the young couple and parents who were killed in the bus crash on their way home from a wedding.
Workmates of the Scotts left glowing sentiments of their late colleagues.
“I worked with Andrew and he was one of the most genuinely sweet men I’ve ever met,” one donor recalled.
“We were usually the first 2 there in the morning and he always had a happy smile and a hello for me! He won’t be forgotten.”
“To the beautiful kids of Flossy, know that your Mum is an incredible person who you will undoubtedly do proud,” another wrote.
Lynan Scott, formerly Lynan Muldoon, who hailed from a large family in Grafton, was a mining engineer at the same company as Mitchell Gaffney – the groom whose wedding preceded the tragic crash – according to the Daily Mail.
Her husband Andrew is a former YMCA lifeguard and landscaper turned hospital and healthcare worker. The former Brisbane local was working for NSW Health in Muswellbrook at the time of his death, the outlet reports.
Someone else wrote they wished they could “do more to help these young boys” adding it was “just devastating all round”.
Friends from the couple’s childhood and new home of Singleton also expressed their sorrow at the loss of the “lovely” couple.
“Although this small gesture will not ease the pain, I hope the boys will grow to have many opportunities in life just like their parents would have desired,” one donor wrote.
The first funeral for one of the 10 bus crash victims was held earlier this week, as investigations continue into the devastating crash.
Angus Andrew Craig, 28, was the first victim to be farewelled, with hundreds of mourners – including the devastated newlyweds whose nuptials preceded the crash and 700 more on a livestream – paying their respects at a service at Worrigee in Nowra.
Days after the crash residents from the town of Greta, near the site of the tragedy, held a moving vigil to lay flowers and remember those who died.
Crash investigators are still piecing together what went so horribly wrong to cause the bus to roll into its side on top of a guardrail late on Sunday, June 11.
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The driver of the bus, Brett Andrew Button, 58, has been charged with 10 counts of dangerous driving occasioning death – drive manner dangerous, and negligent driving causing death.
Police will allege in court that Mr Button entered the roundabout too fast, causing the vehicle to fall on its side.
He appeared in Cessnock Magistrate’s Court on June 13 and was granted strict conditional bail.
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