Zekiya Bultitude: Family’s heartbreak for beautiful ‘bubbly’ teenager who died in Kimberley car crash

The mother of an 18-year-old woman who was working at the world-famous El Questro and just months into the trip of a lifetime when she died in a crash in the Kimberley has paid tribute to her beautiful, “bubbly” daughter. Zekiya Bultitude was living her dream of travelling around Australia after buying a van and fixing it up with her grandfather when her life was tragically cut short on Sunday. The “bubbly and outgoing” teenager, who worked in the reception at El Questro’s Emma Gorge resort, was driving alone in a Toyota LandCruiser west on the Gibb River-Wyndham Road in Durack when it left the road and rolled several times about 7.15am. Zekiya died of her injuries at the scene. The tragedy has rocked the teenager’s family and friends. Zekiya’s heartbroken mum Michelle Clark, speaking to The West Australian from her home in Hervey Bay in Queensland on Tuesday, said the family were “lost for words” She was a sister to siblings Zac, 21 and Azra, 14. “We are all devastated,” Ms Clark said. “We are all crushed. Nothing can bring her back.” Ms Clark said her daughter, who grew up in both Hervey Bay and the Clarence Valley in NSW, had left about three months ago to travel around Australia while working, with her job at El Questro her first on her journey. “She bought a van and helped her pop fix it up,” she said. “It was a big step for her to go from where she was in NSW — I always said, ‘When you kids leave home, I’m going to buy a van and travel Australia’, and she said, ‘I’m going to do that when I’m young’, so that’s what she wanted to do. “She was on her dream trip.” Ms Clark said the last time she spoke to her daughter, she told her she was meeting “wonderful people and having a good time”. “She loved it up there,” she said. “She was saying she was meeting wonderful people and having a good time ... she was having fun, exploring. “She wanted to live life and make the most of it.” The devastated mother said that despite the heartbreaking outcome, she did not regret letting her daughter live her dream. “Even though this has happened, she was out there doing what she wanted to do,” Ms Clark said. Zekiya’s father Mark Bultitude said there were “no words” to describe his heartbreak. El Questro chief executive Grant Wilckens said: “The El Questro team are shocked and deeply saddened by Zekiya’s sudden passing. “Our thoughts are with her family and all those impacted at this difficult time.” Major crash detectives are investigating the cause of the crash and have called for anyone with information to call Crime Stoppers. Zekiya’s death was one of several fatalities in a horror weekend on WA’s roads, with 18-year-old Dominic Burns also losing his life after a crash in Mindarie on Saturday. Two women, aged 31 and 56, died after a head-on collision on the Great Central Road, about 170km south west of Warburton, on Sunday.