Family mourn caring sister

Alyssa Louise Gedye was a family woman with a quiet nature and a creative mind.

She was also resilient. Seven years ago when she was 22, a tumour was found in Gedye's small intestine and she was diagnosed with Peutz-jeghers Syndrome.

Her mum, Kim Falconer, remembers how her daughter fought through the adversity.

"They actually saved her life up here at Whanganui Hospital.

"She just carried on after her life-saving operation. It was probably a week later, she went back down to Wellington for her graduation."

Falconer considers the next seven years of her daughter's life as bonus time that she and her other children got to spend with Alyssa.

Alyssa died on August 13, aged 29, when her car collided with a truck on the State Highway 3 Waitotara River bridge.

On that Tuesday, a family member messaged Falconer on Facebook informing her of the accident. Police showed up at her house moments later.

One week after Alyssa died, there was a funeral service for her at the Cleveland Chapel on Ingestre St in Whanganui, where Falconer spoke about her first child.

Falconer said she was an 18-year-old at university when she had Alyssa.

"I decided to have her, but I heard from the doctors and nurses at the time that lots of other young ladies didn't choose the same as me," she said.

"I knew I'd made the right decision when I saw how many people she had touched and took note of all the things she did in her life at her funeral."

Alyssa was born in Palmerston North. Her dad died when she was four and she moved to Whanganui with her mum when she was eight.

She attended Carlton School, Rutherford Junior High School and then Whanganui High School before moving to Wellington to study at Victoria University.

There she studied law, English and teaching, with the goal of becoming a teacher; however, that never came to fruition.

Falconer has four other children, Alyssa's siblings Oliver, 21, Emily, 18, and 11-year-old twins Anna and Justin.

"She helped me a lot with her brothers and sisters because I had five children, including the twins. She was there when I had them.

"At 17, it's not usual that you see your mum giving birth to twins, but that was very special that she was there supporting me."

Alyssa's sister Emily described her as being the rock of the family.

Alyssa moved to Wellington six weeks after the twins were born, but would return for the holidays with presents for her family and also to take the load off her mum.

As well as being a keen reader, Alyssa enjoyed watching movies and doing photography.

Falconer said she also loved lots of different music.

"I like soppy stuff and she got a bit sick of that. One day down in Wellington she goes, 'I heard a Whitney Houston song, it reminded me of you, Mum'.

"Her sense of style was top-notch and she dressed beautifully. She was very feminine, wearing dresses and scarves and hats in the summer time."

Eventually, Alyssa returned to the area and, although disheartened about not being able to get a job as a teacher, she did gain employment.

She worked as a motel cleaner, then gained employment as a nanny working in Waitotara and was then employed in the stock room at Silver Fern Farms.

Alyssa lived in Waitotara for three years and in September 2018 gave birth to a daughter, Isabella.

Falconer said she was grateful to have seen her daughter on the Sunday, two days before the accident.

"It was lucky we went out there. I nearly changed my mind because it was pouring down with rain.

"We went out there and I cooked her some baked fish and vegetables with cheese sauce and mashed potatoes.

"The twins nagged at me so we went and I'm really glad that we did because we got to give her a hug and say goodbye to her and have that last meal with her."

The investigation into the cause of the crash is ongoing.

By Jesse King
Whanganui Chronicle 28/8/19