This selfie was taken minutes before 26-year-old mother-of-one Collette Moreno died in a car crash.
Looking at the photo – and knowing that she was killed so soon after – makes this joyful picture particularly haunting.
Collette Morena and Ashley Theobald
And Collette Moreno had a right to be happy. The young US woman was on the way to her hen’s party when she died in the crash. Her best friend Ashley Theobald was driving her to the celebrations, but when they tried to overtake a truck they tragically collided with a vehicle coming in the opposite direction.
Moreno and her best friend were both taken to hospital with injuries, and Moreno died only three hours later.
Moreno’s fiancé, 28-year-old Jesse Arcobasso, has now lost his wife-to-be just four weeks before their wedding. He has spoken to the media about his loss — and how Moreno’s five-year-old son Braden is coping with the tragedy.
“He doesn’t quite understand everything just yet,” Arcobasso told TV network KCTV . “I know it’s going to take time.”
Arcobasso revealed that he rushed to the hospital as soon as he learned of the accident. “I was just trying to hold on to the fact that she was going to be okay,” he told the media.
Collete and fiance Jesse Arcobasso
Theobald also spoke to the same station, and revealed why they had been trying to overtake a truck at the time of the accident. Moreno’s best friend tearfully said that the truck they were trailing had heavy exhaust fumes, and Moreno started suffering from an asthma attack
“We both thought it was clear and there was a hill that neither one of us saw,” she said. “I tried to go around and there was a truck coming and I swerved and he swerved with me.”
Friends and family have now set up a fundraising page, to help cover the costs of getting her family to Kansas for the funeral.
Our thoughts are with the whole family.
Collette with Jesse and five-year-old Braden
PM: Israel Launches Missiles At Iran, Male Violence A Priority Says Attorney-General
The Quicky
Taylor Swift & The Birthday Card Relationship Test
Mamamia Out Loud17-Year-Old Fletcher Crowley Became Paraplegic Six Months Ago
No Filter
Top Comments
For all those speculating about distracted driving and blaming the phones or larking about.... isn't it just as likely that she was distracted by the fact that her friend was having an asthma attack? Sure she may not have been thinking clearly, but in the circumstances I doubt very much her friend was distracting her with selfies while in the middle of trying to breathe. And I don't think someone having an asthma attack beside you is exactly a calming experience. She probably just wanted to get her friend away from the trigger of the attack as soon as she could, and the best way seemed to be to overtake. It might not have been the best decision to all of us sitting safely in our chairs right now, and heck she might have even agreed a few weeks ago before the accident if reading the same story. But in that moment, thats the decision she made. I doubt phones, not paying attention or larking about were contributors here.
I drive To Melbourne from Adelaide quite regularly. My greatest fear is the scenario that occured in that accident. A driver pulling out from behind a truck to overtake with no idea if the road ahead is clear or not. Her poor judgement caused the death of her friend. It could have also caused the needless deaths of other drivers/passengers on the road. Her friend's asthma attack is just an excuse for crap driving.
Her car has a Micron air filter. Just put the A/C on.
Or set the air to recirculate. I don't buy that asthma story as the root cause.