The death of a 39-year-old Fijian man in Perth, Australia, has left his family in Fiji devastated. Sikeli Nawaqa was killed in a car accident on Sunday when the vehicle he was driving veered off the road and crashed into a tree. His passing was widely reported in Australian media.
Nawaqa hailed from Nayawa in Nadroga and had maternal roots in Naceva, Beqa. At the time of the accident, he was accompanied by three other Fijian men, all of whom were injured and transported via helicopter to Perth Hospital on Sunday evening.
His wife, Sulueti Naula, 37, expressed her heartbreak upon receiving the news. “When I heard, all I could think about were our four children who I now have to raise alone,” she said. A pastor they lived with in Perth visited the hospital for updates, and after a two-hour wait, Naula received a call from her husband’s boss that confirmed her worst fears.
“I just knew it was bad news when I saw his boss’s name. I couldn’t answer, and I just sat in my room crying,” she shared. The couple had just spoken the previous Saturday about plans for their 18-year-old son to study abroad.
Nawaqa had applied for work overseas through Fiji’s National Employment Centre two years ago and had been successful in finding employment, having most recently worked as a supervisor at Agri Fresh Citrus Farm. Naula described her husband as a dedicated and hardworking family man. His father, Inoke Nawaqa, revealed that the family is now focused on making funeral arrangements.