TUESDAY, SEPT 15
Former Australian Olympian Lisa Curry has spoken of the “unbearable” pain she feels following the death of her daughter, Jaimi Kenny, on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast.
The 33-year-old died peacefully at Sunshine Coast University Hospital on Monday following a battle with a long-term illness.
Ms Kenny is the eldest daughter of sporting stars Lisa Curry and Grant Kenny.
Paying tribute to her daughter on Tuesday, Curry remembered Jaimi as someone who was “so loved, so beautiful and so kind to everyone”.
“I can barely breathe. I just can’t believe you’re not here anymore, I sit and just shake my head,” Curry posted on social media.
“It doesn’t seem real or right.
“I will miss you every sunrise, I will miss you when the sun is shining and the birds are singing.
“I will miss you when the clouds are dark and stormy and when the rainbow appears.
“I will miss you when I close my eyes. I will miss you when I open my eyes.
“I will miss our long hugs and long chats.
“You will forever be with me in my heart Jaimi. I love you so much.”
Heart-felt tributes have poured in for Jaimi.
TV presenter Amanda Keller replied to a heartbreaking tribute to Jaimi posted by her mum on Instagram on Tuesday morning.
“I can’t imagine. Sending love,” she replied.
Singer and former Neighbours star Natalie Bassingthwaighte also mourned her friend’s loss.
“My dear friend! My heart is hurting for you right now! Sending love and light. Jamie was a beautiful soul inside and out and so very loved. I am here for you.”
Friend Jacki Hendy said her heart was aching for Ms Curry.
“Such a devastating loss, beyond comprehension,” she said.
“Sending all my love to you and Mark, Grant, Morgan, Jett and your family. Rest peacefully beautiful girl. Holding you in my heart on your journey to heaven.”
Interior designer and TV personality Darren Palmer said he was “so sorry for (her) tragic loss”.
Reality renovation TV stars Kyal and Kara also said they were “so sorry to hear, sending you all so much love Lisa”.
TV presenter and interior designer Barry Du Bois gave his condolences and said he was “sending love and strength”.
Others simply posted broken-heart emojis.
Grant Kenny released a statement on Monday, saying Jaimi had “lost her battle with a long-term illness and passed away peacefully in hospital this morning in the company of loving family” at Sunshine Coast University Hospital.
“Jaimi will forever be remembered as a caring, bright and loving soul who always put others before herself,” Mr Kenny wrote in the statement.
“Our hearts are broken and the pain is immense but we must move forward cherishing every wonderful moment we got to share with our treasured first child.
“We thank the incredible team at the Sunshine Coast University Hospital for their tireless commitment to making her better and giving us as the extra time we were able to spend with her.”
Ms Curry posted a photograph on her Instagram page to celebrate Jaimi’s 33rd birthday on June 25.
Mr Kenny did not reveal the nature of his daughter’s illness.
“It goes without saying that this is a very difficult time for family and friends and we trust we will all be allowed to grieve in privacy,” he said.
Mr Kenny and Ms Curry married in 1986 and had three children together.
Jaimi was their eldest, born in 1987.
Queensland’s famous sporting couple separated in 2009, before finalising their divorce in 2017.
Ms Curry won 15 gold, seven silver and eight bronze international swimming medals, and is the only Australian swimmer to have held Commonwealth and Australian records in every stroke except backstroke.
###
Victoria has recorded 42 new coronavirus infections and no deaths overnight, as the 14-day case averages in regional Victoria and metropolitan Melbourne continue to fall.
It’s the first day without a coronavirus death in more than two months. The last day with zero deaths recorded was July 13.
Metropolitan Melbourne’s 14-day daily case average is now 52.9, down from 54.4 yesterday.
Regional Victoria’s is now 3.6, down from 3.9 yesterday.
The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) said there was a total of 82 cases with an unknown source in metropolitan Melbourne, and one in regional Victoria.
More information about the latest cases is expected to be released by DHHS later today.
In order for metropolitan Melbourne to progress to the next stage of the roadmap, scheduled for September 28, the 14-day daily average must drop to between 30 and 50.
But even if that caseload is reached early, Professor Brett Sutton said the September 28 date was set in stone.
“We need that time for the [policy] settings that we have, but I am very confident we will be in the 30-to-50 range for average daily cases,” he said yesterday.
The trigger points for regional Victoria’s next step are a 14-day average below five, and zero mystery cases over two weeks.
Premier Daniel Andrews has been hinting for days that regional Victoria was “on the cusp” of reaching the next step.
Queensland has recorded one new case of coronavirus overnight taking the state’s total to 1,150 since the beginning of the pandemic.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the new case is an overseas arrival who is already in quarantine.
There are now 31 active cases in Queensland.
###
US President Donald Trump blames poor forest management for deadly fires on the US West Coast which have so far killed at least 33, burned millions of acres and destroyed thousands of homes.
But many of the blazes have roared through coastal scrub and grasslands, not forest.
On a visit to California, Mr Trump was asked if climate change was also part of the problem, in combination with forest management.
“Well, I think something’s possible, I think a lot of things are possible,” Mr Trump said.
“But with regard to the forest, when trees fall down after a short period of time, about 18 months, they become very dry.
“They become really like a matchstick and they get up, you know, there’s no more water pouring through.”
He said downed trees and dried leaves on forest floors eventually “just explode”.
Mr Trump meets with Californian authorities for a fire briefing.(By AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
The President said countries in Europe don’t have the same issues with wildfires because they manage their forests.
“So we have to do that in California,” he said.
“I mean, people don’t like to do cuts, but they have to do cuts in between.
“So if you do have a fire and it gets away, you’ll have a 50 yard cut in between.
“So it won’t be able to catch to the other side. They don’t do that. If you go to other countries, you go to Austria, you go to Finland, you go to many different countries and they don’t have fires.”
At a fire briefing, Californian Governor Gavin Newsom said his state can do a better job of forest management.
But he told Trump that it is “self-evident that climate change is real and that is exacerbating this”.
“The ferocity of these fires, the drought, five-plus years, losing 163 million trees to that drought,” Mr Newsom said.
“Something’s happened to the plumbing of the world. And we come from a perspective, humbly, where we submit the science is in and observed evidence is self-evident that climate change is real and that is exacerbating this.
“And so, I think there’s an area of at least commonality on vegetation forest management.
“The dries are getting drier. When we’re having heat domes, the likes of which we’ve never seen in our history, the hottest August ever in the history of the state.”
California Natural Resources Agency Secretary Wade Crowfoot, argued: “If we ignore that science and sort of put our heads in the sand and think it’s all about vegetation management, we’re not going to succeed together in protecting California.”
Mr Trump replied: “It’ll start getting cooler. You just watch.”
Mr Crowfoot retorted: “I wish science agreed with you.”
Mr Trump got in the last word of the exchange: “Well, I don’t think science knows actually.”
SheSociety is a site for the women of Australia to share our stories, our experiences, shared learnings and opportunities to connect.
Leave a Reply