Heartbroken family, friends mourn the loss of hard-working mum and dad

Forest Hill couple John Stanton and Trish O'Brien fell in love 17 years ago and have been inseparable since, raising three children together - Teya O'Brien, 17, Jack Stanton, 14, and Caleb Stanton, 9.

John, 40, and Trish, 38, tragically lost their lives on Saturday following a single-vehicle crash on Keajura Road at Ladysmith.

The loss has left their children, family members, loved ones and the wider Wagga community devastated.

"He was my superhero," Caleb said of his dad.

Teya said her parents were best friends and incredibly hardworking.

"They were together for 17 years - on Dad's birthday," she said.

"Dad was into truck driving for the majority of my life. He got sick a few years ago and he slowed down after that and they started working on the farm together.

"They were hardworking people, they never stopped."

In a bid to help the three siblings during such a challenging time, Trish's best friend Mel Cummins has called on the community to show their support.

"They adored their children," Mel said.

"They had been working hard harvesting in the lead-up to Christmas and had been so busy they hadn't bought their children Christmas presents yet.

"Christmas presents haven't been done, bills are going to pile up pretty quickly.

"It's about the community coming together to ensure the children can have a Christmas together in the happiest way possible and making sure they are able to stay in their family home with their mum and dad's things until they can put them to rest."

Mel has created a GoFundMe page to help support the children, the one wish she believed her best friend would have wanted.

"Allowing the kids to stay together with their family in their home is really important," she said.

"We're very grateful and we do want to thank the community and the people reaching out - we are very appreciative, especially to the Ladysmith community, and this is a way people can help.

"There are a lot of messages and phone calls coming in and we can't reply to everyone. However, the family and children do need a little bit of time together to process what is happening - they will get back to everyone when they can."

Love has also been shown to John and Trish through a memorial that has been created for them at the Ladysmith Rural Fire Service Brigade.

Mel said both had a lot to do with the RFS - John a long-term volunteer and Trish the first to ensure they were all cared for.

"They were both a big part of the RFS. It was one of John's biggest loves, as well as his truck and farm. John's father was a firefighter, and he adored his father and his uncle," she said.

"Trish was his backbone, she was everyone's backbone, she was beautiful."

John and Trish were best friends - spending their days side-by-side, often singing in their car together.

"They were always together. They lived together, they worked together and they're together now," Mel said.

Mel and Trish had been best friends for more than 10 years and while she described John as a character with a big sense of humour, she said Trish had always been there for everyone.

"I wouldn't have gotten through the last 10 years without her - she was my backbone, I think she was everyone's backbone, to be honest," she said.

"She was always there. She fixed things, it didn't matter what you asked for or what you said - you would call her and say 'my world is falling apart' and she was very busy but she always found the time.

"She was beautiful."

Donations can be made online at gofund.me/594fc509