The family of Theena Barton, a 74-year-old grandmother and postal worker killed in a crash in West Perth on Monday, has paid tribute to her as someone who 'made the world a better place.'
Barton died after two cars collided and ploughed into an office building at the intersection of the Mitchell Freeway off-ramp and Hay Street just after 6:30am. She was a StarTrack worker who had been on the job for two decades and had no plans to retire.
Her daughter, Justine Russell, said the family was in disbelief. 'It couldn't be my mum, it couldn't be our Theena, it couldn't be our family member that was killed,' she told 7NEWS. Russell described her mother as a giving person who only wanted 'laughter, happiness and love.'
Barton worked alongside her husband, who called her the light of his life. Tributes have poured in online, including from the mother of another postie killed in 2009, who said: 'Another Australia Post Angel getting her wings.'
The crash involved Barton's StarTrack-marked Hyundai Tucson SUV and an Isuzu D-Max ute. The two vehicles became wedged in the office building and had to be craned out. The ute driver, a 38-year-old man, remains in Royal Perth Hospital's state trauma unit.
Major crash investigators have told the family that one line of inquiry is that the ute driver may have suffered a medical episode caused by epilepsy. A GoFundMe has been launched by the family to help honor Barton's memory and manage unexpected expenses.
