Jenny Pedler visits the site on Warneet Road where her 14-year-old sister died a year ago. 20388 Picture: Meagan Rogers.
By Kelly Yates
A YEAR after the death of Allanah Thompson, her grieving Warneet family still has more questions than answers.
The 14-year-old was walking along Warneet Road at 5.45pm on 18 June 2007 when she was struck by a car near Aruma Street.
Allanah was rushed to the Royal Children’s Hospital in a critical condition with serious head injuries and was placed in an induced coma for 18 days.
The former year nine Kooweerup Secondary College student underwent brain surgery, but died on 11 July.
One year on, Allanah’s sister Jenny Pedler said her family was still waiting to find out who killed their little girl.
“We’ve tried calling local police on several occasions, but have had no luck getting any answers,” the 27-year-old said.
“We just want some closure.”
Ms Pedler said her mother struggled to cope with Allanah’s loss, had been prescribed antidepressants and sleeping tablets and visited a psychiatrist fortnightly.
The Cranbourne mother of three is also urging council to install better lighting and footpaths along Warneet Road.
“Parents with prams and children on bikes are always on the road,” Ms Pedler said.
City of Casey manager for transport Paul Hamilton said over the past 12 months the council had constructed a new pedestrian path along Warneet Road between Aruma Street and Gilgandra Street and also installed additional street lighting along the same section of road.
The speed limit along the western residential section of Warneet Road is 60 km/h.
To add to the family’s sadness, the memorial cross that was placed at the scene of Allanah’s death was taken down a month ago.
“We just cried when we saw the cross had been removed,” Ms Pedler said.
“It was such a heatless thing for someone to remove the cross after only a year.”
But to Ms Pedler’s surprise, on Monday, she discovered that someone had placed a new handmade cross at the scene.
Victoria Police said the case was being heard in the Coroner’s Court and the family should receive some answers within the coming weeks or months.
