The husband of Launceston nurse Elaine Gee has shared an emotional tribute following her death in a head-on crash on the West Tamar Highway, as a fundraiser for her family raises more than $145,000 in less than 24 hours.
More than 1,600 people have made donations to the cause so far.
Rod Gee described in a social media post the moment he and his sons said their final goodbye.
“This afternoon I had so say forever goodbye to my best friend and beautiful wife, Elaine,” he wrote.
“This afternoon the boys had to say goodbye to their amazing mum.”
“This entire situation is just completely unacceptable, unfair and crap and this is without question the worst day of our families lives.”
He called on family, friends, teachers and the wider community to help raise his sons.
“Tell them the stories. Remind them who their mum was,” he wrote.
“I can be their dad, but no-one can ever replace their mum.”
The 39-year-old Winkleigh woman died in hospital after spending two days fighting for her life.
She was the sole occupant of a blue Nissan Navara travelling north at Legana when a man driving a blue Skoda collided with her vehicle shortly before 4:40pm on Friday.
The man was pronounced dead at the scene.
Police believe he was responsible for a serious stabbing at a home on Main Road in Exeter shortly before the crash.
The stabbing victim remains in hospital in a serious but stable condition.
Premier Jeremy Rockliff today paid tribute to Gee, saying she had given more than two decades of service at the Launceston General Hospital.
“It is a huge loss to our community, but especially her family, friends and loved ones and all our hearts go out to them,” he said.
Fundraiser organiser Lisa Gibson described Gee and her husband as high school sweethearts who had been together since they were 15.
“What was supposed to be Elaine’s 40th birthday will now be her funeral,” she wrote on the fundraiser page.
