A casting director has paid a heart-breaking tribute to former Home and Away actress, Jessica Falkholt, as she clings to life in hospital.
Casting Director David Newman took to his Facebook page on Friday to share his last memory with the young actress who lost her family in a horror Boxing Day crash.
Jessica remains in a critical condition in hospital after her family made the difficult decision to turn her life-support off on Thursday.
‘So hard to concentrate today, this screenshot is from just eight weeks ago, where I had the pleasure of another audition with the gorgeous Jessica Falkholt,’ Mr Newman said alongside a picture of the actress.
The 28-year-old Home and Away actress’ family made the decision to turn her life support off on Thursday evening, just one day after the funeral of father Lars, mother Vivian and sibling Annabelle
‘So smart, talented, dedicated, passionate, and intense (in all the right ways).’
Mr Newman described the young actress as ‘inquisitive, questioning and hard on herself – she always thought she could do it better’.
Jessica Falkholt, 28, was the sole survivor of a Boxing Day car crash on the Princes Highway near Sussex Inlet, south of Sydney.
Her parents Lars, 69, and Vivian, 60, were both killed at the scene, while Jessica and her sister Annabelle, 21, were pulled from the vehicle and rushed to hospital.
Annabelle died from her injuries three days later, while Jessica was put in a medically induced coma at St George Hospital, where she remains in a critical condition.
‘So hard to concentrate today, this screenshot is from just eight weeks ago, where I had the pleasure of another audition with the gorgeous Jessica Falkholt,’ Mr Newman said alongside a picture of the actress
Casting Director David Newman took to his Facebook page on Friday to share his last memory with Jessica
In his heart-felt tribute to Jessica, Mr Newman described Jessica as a talented young actress with so much potential’.
‘(She was) just starting to kick the goals she had worked so hard for,’ he said.
‘When she really looked at you – with those wonderful, beautiful eyes – you knew you were in front of a powerful, creative life force.
‘Thank you Jess.’
Jessica’s relatives made the difficult decision to turn her life support off on Thursday, two-and-a-half weeks after the car crash.
The girls were dragged from the fiery wreckage of the crash by brave witnesses. Their parents Lars, 69, and Vivian, 60, along with the driver of the other car Craig Anthony Whitall, 50, died in the accident. Pictured: The horrific crash scene
Doctors reportedly told the family it could be weeks or even months before doctors – who removed part of Jessica’s skull and kidney – knew how severe the damage to her brain was (crash scene pictured)
Jessica (far right) and her sister Annabelle (centre right) were pulled from the wreckage after their car collided with a 4WD near Ulladulla on December 26. Parents Lars and Vivian (far left and centre left) died at the scene
The decision was made one day after her parents and sister were fare-welled in a funeral service.
Lars, Vivian and Annabelle were remembered by hundreds of family and friends at St Mary’s Catholic Church at Concord in Sydney’s west on Wednesday.
Jessica and Annabelle’s uncle Paul Ponticello told a packed service that Christmas would forever haunt their family.
‘It is a day that will be difficult to erase from our memory,’ he said.
‘Their lives on this earth ending on a highway makes absolutely no sense.’
Lars, Vivian and Annabelle were remembered by hundreds of family and friends at St Mary’s Catholic Church at Concord in Sydney’s west on Wednesday
They were remembered by hundreds of family and friends at St Mary’s Catholic Church at Concord in Sydney’s west on Wednesday
Craig Anthony Whitall, 50, a serial driving offender who was behind the wheel of the other vehicle, was also killed in the crash.
Whitall, a P-plater, was reportedly driving home from a methadone clinic when the collision occurred.
Whitall was a known drug user and had been jailed for driving offences.
It has been revealed Whitall – who also died in the fiery crash – had served four jail sentences for traffic offences, was banned for driving for nine years and had at least 10 convictions for driving while disqualified, The Daily Telegraph reported.
The coronial investigation into the crash will focus on whether Mr Whitall was under the influence of drugs at the time of the crash.
Jessica Falkholt has had her life support switched off by her devastated family weeks after the Boxing Day crash that claimed the lives of her parents and sister
Craig Whitall claimed a disability pension and used 28 aliases to avoid police, and he drove a car every day after he was caught breaking the law.
His 26-year-old son Shane appeared in court on Thursday charged with dangerous and recklessly driving an uninsured Toyota Camry in Ulladulla in September.
Four of Craig Whitall’s convictions for driving without a licence came in the same month.
Witnesses told police they saw Whitall’s Prado swerving on the opposite side of the road moments before the crash.
He was driving on P-plates at the time after getting his licence back a year earlier.
He had been banned from driving from July 2004 to July 2013.
Whitall was jailed for nine months for driving while disqualified in August 2004.
The Falkholt’s wedding photos and portraits from when they were young
The heartbroken family of the actress (pictured) have kept a bedside vigil since the crash