Yarra Ranges couple Georgia and Tom’s journey is one of love, which was devastatingly concluded far too soon.
On Friday 19 August, 30-year-old Georgia McDonald was making the over five-hour drive from Wagga Wagga to Ferntree Gully during her university break when she was tragically involved in a fatal car collision in Glenburn.
She was preparing to travel to Bali on Sunday 21 August to celebrate her birthday, where her boyfriend Tom Van Staveren planned to propose.
“I was picking the ring up on Saturday and I thought she didn’t know about it at all, but she caught on to it because she had noticed one of her rings was missing,” Tom said.
“She was talking to her friends about where he’ll do it and the fact that she knew that it was coming, she was just so happy. It makes me happy to know that she knew.”
Georgia was known as a selfless person by her friends and family with so much to give to those around her. She was studying to be an oral health therapist and was six weeks away from graduating, having already lined up a role at a clinic she had worked at for 10 years.
Tom said she was truly a “beautiful person, inside and out.”
“She studied not to just be another dentist driving a Jaguar but so she could go to developing countries and do charity work for people that don’t have these services,” Tom said.
“She really just wanted to give back to her mom, who over the last 30 years has given everything to Georgia.”
Family was extremely important to Georgia. She worked two jobs —at a dental clinic and a pizza shop —to take her mum Rachel on a holiday, something they’d never done together.
Georgia’s friend Tallula Galea wrote on a fundraiser page for her wake that she has left behind so many people that loved and adored her “beautiful smile and constant laughter.”
“She shared her love with anyone and everyone,” she said.
“The impact she made on everyone who she crossed paths with will never be forgotten.”
Tom said the moment he first spoke to her three years ago he knew straight away the two would have something special.
“It was this overwhelming sense, it’s really weird and I can’t explain, the university spoke to us and then we went on a date,” he said.
“It was just a really special night and I was lucky enough to be able to kiss her that night before she drove home, afterwards we were pretty much inseparable.”
He said Georgia inspired him to be a better person every day.
“Her best qualities were her generosity and kindness, I love her intelligence and her love did not discriminate,” Tom said.
“She cared for everyone and always had a worry that she just didn’t have enough time to love people. She was so infectious; you just wanted her to love you. She was just so special.”
Charles Sturt University, where Georgia studied, said she would be remembered for her professionalism, dedication and her caring, person-centred approach as a student.
“Her bright and cheerful presence, much loved by staff and fellow students alike, will be sorely missed,” the university said.
“This is a time of great sorrow for the entire university.”
Tom said he hopes someone reading Georgia and his story can take lessons from it and potentially avoid another tragedy.
“I spoke to her half an hour to 45 minutes before the crash and I could tell she just wanted to be at home and during these big drives you can be tired or confused and mistakes can happen,” Tom said.
Georgia McDonald’s family asks instead of sending flowers or well wishes, people instead donate to the GoFundMe page at gofundme.com/f/688p7-georgias-memorial-x
