Beloved mum and ‘heartbeat' of travel safety foundation that supports Aussies dies in US traffic incident
An Australian woman killed when she was struck by a car in the US is being remembered as a 'beautiful mum', a 'rock' of her family and the 'heartbeat' of a travel safety and youth support foundation launched in honour of her late daughter.
Julie Fitzsimons, 65, was critically injured outside a restaurant in Sheridan, Wyoming on Wednesday, local time.
Her daughter Kate Gladdin shared a heartfelt tribute via the Nicole Fitzsimons Foundation, a charity launched by the family after Nicole was killed in a motorbike accident in Thailand in 2012, on Friday.
'With broken hearts we share the devastating news that we lost our beautiful Mum and the heartbeat of Nicole's foundation, Julie Fitzsimons, in an accident,' Gladdin said.
'She was the rock of our family, a joy to be around and adored by all who knew her.'We are absolutely shattered and ask for space as we navigate the difficult process of bringing her back home.
'Once we are ready, we will share more details on her celebration of life.'For now, we find some solace in knowing she's reunited with her beloved daughter, Nicole.
'The Fitzy family will never be the same, but we will rebuild once again in their honour — just like they would want us to.'
In a separate post on Friday, Gladdin shared the last photo she had taken with 'the greatest Mum I could've ever asked for'.
'Oh Mum, if only I knew a few days ago as I stood under this rainbow with you that this would be our final photo together, I would've never let you go,' she said.
'I can't hold you anymore but I'm never letting go of your incredible kindness, courage, resilience and endless love of the Dragons.
'I am so broken, but through the depth of my love for you and Nicole, I will do my best to rebuild and live as fully as I can in honour of you both.
'Please hug my sister for me so so tight.'
'Strength, joy and unwavering belief'
The Nicole Fitzsimons Foundation was launched after the death of Julie's daughter Nicole in a motorbike accident while on holiday in Thailand in 2012. Nicole was just 24.
The foundation provides travel safety education and helps young performing artists and sportspeople with financial assistance.
Fitzsimons' sudden death was met with an outpouring of grief when news broke on the foundation's social media pages, with hundreds of people leaving tributes for a 'source of strength, joy and unwavering belief in the people around her'.
'She championed dreams not just with words, but with action, generosity, and a spirit that lifted others higher,' read one tribute.
'To be known and supported by her was to be championed and loved wholeheartedly.
'She will be so sorely missed and her absence leaves a silence that echoes deeply.
'But her impact — the lives she touched, the dreams she nurtured, the light she gave so freely despite her own heartache — will continue to live on in all of us and especially her beautiful family.
'We will carry her with us, always.'
The St George Sailing Club, where she was an archivist, described Fitzsimons as a 'passionate club member who treasured our history'.
'Julie's passion for sailing extends through her family and her enthusiasm, donating her time and expertise will be missed,' the club said.
US media reports a male driver is assisting police and the investigation is ongoing.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Perth Now
22 minutes ago
- Perth Now
‘Suspicious': Mum demands answers over young miner's sudden Bali death
A grieving Queensland mother is demanding answers after her 23-year-old son died suddenly in Bali under what she describes as 'suspicious' circumstances. Byron Haddow, a FIFO worker from the Sunshine Coast, died in his private villa last Monday while holidaying on the Indonesian island. As questions swirl around Haddow's sudden death, his mother, Chantal, says no one wants answers more than she does. 'We are still chasing answers as to how our fit healthy 23 yr old son wound up dead in his private villa,' she wrote on social media. 'No, it wasn't a scooter accident. No, it wasn't his first time in Bali either!' 'We believe it's suspicious and are going through the avenues to get it investigated,' she said, explaining that the process is likely to delay her son's return home as well as the release of any associated funds. Chantal has commented on friends' posts about Byron's sudden death, writing 'I'm broken' alongside crying and broken heart emojis. Rebecca Haddow Pohlner, Byron's aunt, said despite her nephew having travel insurance, 'it's going to take 6 to 8 weeks for that to come about and even then, they will find any loophole they can'. 'We Just want him home where he belongs so my sister in law and brother, can move forward to grieve this beautiful human my nephew, absolute legend of a boy who had the biggest heart,' she said. The cause of Haddow's death is still unknown. Credit: Supplied Just before his death, Haddow had posted Instagram stories from Beachwalk Shopping Centre and The Coffee Club in Legian. Tributes have poured in for the much-loved miner. 'Byron was the funny, kind and considerate friend that you could always count on,' one commented. 'I can't remember how many years it's been since I met him, but I know it's been many years of love and laughter. 'He was the type of guy to give the shirt off his back. 'Rest in peace Bizz, I seriously can't believe you're not here anymore. I love you bro.' The GoFundMe page set up to help bring Haddow home has raised more than $34,000 as of Monday. Tributes have flowed after Byron Haddow's sudden death in Bali. Credit: GoFundMe On Friday, the government Smartraveller website updated its advice for tourists wishing to visit Indonesia, following a string of Australian deaths in Bali over the past six months. has contacted Indonesian police for comment.
Perth Now
33 minutes ago
- Perth Now
Freed Aussie exposes China's secret jails
An Australian journalist has relived the 'mental torture' of her time in one of China's notorious RSDL black jail cells in a harrowing documentary detailing ordeal. It has been little more than one-and-a-half-years since Cheng Lei landed safely in Australia after spending nearly three in Chinese custody. She was a prominent business anchor for a Chinese state broadcaster when Ministry of State Security officers unexpectedly raided her Beijing apartment in August, 2020. After hunting through her belongings and seizing all her electronic devices, they blindfolded Cheng and disappeared her into China's web of secret prisons. Now a Sky News presenter based in her hometown of Melbourne, Cheng has delved into the brutality of her detention in a documentary for the network titled Cheng Lei: My Story. She shares heart-wrenching details of the darkest period of her life and offers a rare glimpse into one of the most ruthless justice systems on the planet. Australian journalist Cheng Lei spent nearly six months in solitary confinement in China. Supplied Credit: Supplied Cheng was held in solitary confinement for nearly six months after being accused of endangering China's national security. Chinese authorities never fully clarified the allegation, but that did not stop them holding her for 177 days before her official arrest. 'RSDL is the Chinese spelling for hell,' Cheng said in the documentary. 'It stands for Residential Surveillance at a Designated Location, which makes you think it's house arrest. 'But in reality, it's mental torture.' Little is known about RSDL in China. But Safeguard Defenders, which tracks disappearances in China, has scraped enough together to paint a deeply disturbing picture. Detainees are kept at unknown locations for up to six months in cells 'designed to prevent suicide', according to the human rights not-for-profit. Witnesses have told the group they were denied legal counsel or contact with the outside world and 'regularly subjected to torture and forced to confess' — experiences hauntingly similar to Cheng's. Faced with a recreation of her cell, Cheng became emotional and said the months she spent inside were 'as close to dying and wanting to die as I ever got'. 'Yeah, this is where I spent six months,' she said as she entered the mock cell. 'Just sitting like this, thinking I was never gonna get out and absolutely helpless.' Cheng was forced to sit in a rigid position for 13 hours every day. NewsWire / Screengrab / Sky News Australia Credit: NewsWire The room was simple — blank, cream walls, a bed and a stool for the guards that watched over her 24/7. She was forbidden from talking or making the 'slightest movement', and had to receive permission before so much as scratching herself, she explained. 'So you're in a bare room, and you are guarded and watched at all times by two guards,' Cheng said. 'One stands in front of me, one sits next to me, and they take turns with the standing and sitting. 'I have to sit on the edge of the bed and have my hands on my lap. 'Not allowed to cross the ankles or cross the legs, not allowed to close the eyes, no talking, no laughing, no sunshine, no sky, no exercise, no requests, no colour — just fear, desperation, isolation and utter boredom.' She says she sat like that for 13 hours each day. 'I hated having to sit still, not being able to do anything,' Cheng said. 'How do they come up with this — just nothingness? Nothingness, but also a sea of pain. 'I had no idea what was happening, or how long I would be here.' Outside, fierce diplomatic efforts were underway to gain consular access to her, with Australian officials fighting to get information to her loved ones — including her two children in Melbourne — about where she was and what her condition was. Safeguard Defenders has estimated as many as 113,407 people have been placed into RSDL and later faced trial. Cheng says her time in a secret Chinese prison cell was 'as close to dying and wanting to die as I ever got'. NewsWire / Screengrab / Sky News Australia Credit: NewsWire After she was formally arrested, Cheng was taken out of RSDL and moved into a larger cell with three other women. She stayed there for the remainder of her detention. Cheng and her cellmates were still subjected to 24-hour surveillance, but at least she was not alone, and a clearer picture was forming of what had landed her in custody. 'Eight words' As a senior journalist working for state media, she had access to Chinese government releases before they were published, including a major announcement that Beijing was not setting a 2020 GDP target due to uncertainty from the Covid-19 pandemic. Cheng was close friends with a reporter at Bloomberg, Haze Fan. The journalists shared their sources with each other. Cheng said Fan had been pushing for a 'series of government reports from me that hadn't been published in order to break the story at Bloomberg'. 'And I wanted to help her, because she had helped me,' Cheng said. 'When I told her the eight words which were 'no growth target', 'GDP', nine million jobs target' at 7:23am, I thought that would help her break the story, which they did.' She sent the text just seven minutes before the announcement was published. 'The charge was supplying state secrets to foreign entities, which boils down to texting eight words, seven minutes before the embargo (lifted), to my friend at Bloomberg,' Cheng said. Cheng was detained during a low point in Australia's relationship with China. Former prime minister Scott Morrison had infuriated Beijing when he backed an inquiry into the origins of coronavirus. China's ambassador at the time warned Australia's push for a probe was 'dangerous'. Soon after, tariffs were slapped on Australian goods, leading to a years-long trade war that has only recently eased, with the Albanese government unlocking $20bn worth of trade. Cheng's incarceration has been broadly seen as being part of China's efforts to pressure Australia. She was only released as ties with China began to normalise in late 2023. Cheng made clear the suffering she endured as a pawn in a geopolitical game. 'You don't know if you'll ever see your family again, because you don't know what they (the Chinese government) want,' she said. 'You don't know how everything you've done that you thought was good was now possibly criminal. 'Everything that made you happy or gave you pleasure now just was so far, is so removed from you. It was a cause of pain.' Cheng Lei: My Story will premiere on Sky News Australia at 7:30pm on Tuesday, June 3. Cheng Lei: A Memoir Of Freedom by Cheng Lei will be published by HarperCollins on Wednesday, June 4.
West Australian
36 minutes ago
- West Australian
Australian journalist Cheng Lei relives ‘torture' of China's secret jails in documentary
An Australian journalist has relived the 'mental torture' of her time in one of China's notorious RSDL black jail cells in a harrowing documentary detailing ordeal. It has been little more than one-and-a-half-years since Cheng Lei landed safely in Australia after spending nearly three in Chinese custody. She was a prominent business anchor for a Chinese state broadcaster when Ministry of State Security officers unexpectedly raided her Beijing apartment in August, 2020. After hunting through her belongings and seizing all her electronic devices, they blindfolded Cheng and disappeared her into China's web of secret prisons. Now a Sky News presenter based in her hometown of Melbourne, Cheng has delved into the brutality of her detention in a documentary for the network titled Cheng Lei: My Story. She shares heart-wrenching details of the darkest period of her life and offers a rare glimpse into one of the most ruthless justice systems on the planet. Cheng was held in solitary confinement for nearly six months after being accused of endangering China's national security. Chinese authorities never fully clarified the allegation, but that did not stop them holding her for 177 days before her official arrest. 'RSDL is the Chinese spelling for hell,' Cheng said in the documentary. 'It stands for Residential Surveillance at a Designated Location, which makes you think it's house arrest. 'But in reality, it's mental torture.' Little is known about RSDL in China. But Safeguard Defenders, which tracks disappearances in China, has scraped enough together to paint a deeply disturbing picture. Detainees are kept at unknown locations for up to six months in cells 'designed to prevent suicide', according to the human rights not-for-profit. Witnesses have told the group they were denied legal counsel or contact with the outside world and 'regularly subjected to torture and forced to confess' — experiences hauntingly similar to Cheng's. Faced with a recreation of her cell, Cheng became emotional and said the months she spent inside were 'as close to dying and wanting to die as I ever got'. 'Yeah, this is where I spent six months,' she said as she entered the mock cell. 'Just sitting like this, thinking I was never gonna get out and absolutely helpless.' The room was simple — blank, cream walls, a bed and a stool for the guards that watched over her 24/7. She was forbidden from talking or making the 'slightest movement', and had to receive permission before so much as scratching herself, she explained. 'So you're in a bare room, and you are guarded and watched at all times by two guards,' Cheng said. 'One stands in front of me, one sits next to me, and they take turns with the standing and sitting. 'I have to sit on the edge of the bed and have my hands on my lap. 'Not allowed to cross the ankles or cross the legs, not allowed to close the eyes, no talking, no laughing, no sunshine, no sky, no exercise, no requests, no colour — just fear, desperation, isolation and utter boredom.' She says she sat like that for 13 hours each day. 'I hated having to sit still, not being able to do anything,' Cheng said. 'How do they come up with this — just nothingness? Nothingness, but also a sea of pain. 'I had no idea what was happening, or how long I would be here.' Outside, fierce diplomatic efforts were underway to gain consular access to her, with Australian officials fighting to get information to her loved ones — including her two children in Melbourne — about where she was and what her condition was. Safeguard Defenders has estimated as many as 113,407 people have been placed into RSDL and later faced trial. After she was formally arrested, Cheng was taken out of RSDL and moved into a larger cell with three other women. She stayed there for the remainder of her detention. Cheng and her cellmates were still subjected to 24-hour surveillance, but at least she was not alone, and a clearer picture was forming of what had landed her in custody. 'Eight words' As a senior journalist working for state media, she had access to Chinese government releases before they were published, including a major announcement that Beijing was not setting a 2020 GDP target due to uncertainty from the Covid-19 pandemic. Cheng was close friends with a reporter at Bloomberg, Haze Fan. The journalists shared their sources with each other. Cheng said Fan had been pushing for a 'series of government reports from me that hadn't been published in order to break the story at Bloomberg'. 'And I wanted to help her, because she had helped me,' Cheng said. 'When I told her the eight words which were 'no growth target', 'GDP', nine million jobs target' at 7:23am, I thought that would help her break the story, which they did.' She sent the text just seven minutes before the announcement was published. 'The charge was supplying state secrets to foreign entities, which boils down to texting eight words, seven minutes before the embargo (lifted), to my friend at Bloomberg,' Cheng said. Cheng was detained during a low point in Australia's relationship with China. Former prime minister Scott Morrison had infuriated Beijing when he backed an inquiry into the origins of coronavirus. China's ambassador at the time warned Australia's push for a probe was 'dangerous'. Soon after, tariffs were slapped on Australian goods, leading to a years-long trade war that has only recently eased, with the Albanese government unlocking $20bn worth of trade. Cheng's incarceration has been broadly seen as being part of China's efforts to pressure Australia. She was only released as ties with China began to normalise in late 2023. Cheng made clear the suffering she endured as a pawn in a geopolitical game. 'You don't know if you'll ever see your family again, because you don't know what they (the Chinese government) want,' she said. 'You don't know how everything you've done that you thought was good was now possibly criminal. 'Everything that made you happy or gave you pleasure now just was so far, is so removed from you. It was a cause of pain.' Cheng Lei: My Story will premiere on Sky News Australia at 7:30pm on Tuesday, June 3. Cheng Lei: A Memoir Of Freedom by Cheng Lei will be published by HarperCollins on Wednesday, June 4.
