A 16-year-old with a passionate love of animals. An 18-year-old who was a natural with children.
The lives of two Hunter teenagers have been cut tragically short after a horrific car crash in Singleton at the weekend.
Tayla Pettit, 18, from Branxton, died in hospital on Sunday afternoon, 24 hours after her friend, Miranda Maytom-Rollason, 16, from Rutherford, died at the scene of the accident on the Golden Highway.
The deaths have rocked family and friends of the two popular teenagers who were "just starting out".
Ms Pettit's grandfather Chris said she was "just starting to spread her wings" after graduating with her high school certificate in 2014.
The former Singleton High School student had been taken on as a trainee at the Somerset Park Preschool and Long Day Care Centre, and was pursuing an interest in cooking.
"Her life has just been cut so tragically short when she was really pushing ahead, she had a lot of plans and she was just starting out," he said.
"She was a bright girl with a lot of friends, really engaging, really out there and fun."
Ms Maytom-Rollason was a student at Margaret Jurd College in Shortland, and on Monday students at the school painted art works in her memory.
She was a devoted animal lover who kept everything from pet dogs and cats, to goats, ferrets and chickens. She loved cars and motorbikes, and had hoped to become a diesel mechanic.
The words "stay strong" were tattooed on her arm, a personal motto. Devastated friends, including Nathan Williams, described her as "a beautiful person".
"[She] was always bubbly and always centre of the crowd, she was just the light in the room," he said.
Police say the crash investigation unit is still investigating the cause of the accident, which happened near Range Road at Whittingham.
It's understood Ms Pettit was driving her Toyota Camry, a gift from her grandfather, east along the Golden Highway with Ms Maytom-Rollason in the passenger seat, on their way back from visiting a friend in Merriwa.
Police say the car had overtaken two other vehicles when it spun off the road and went over an embankment, becoming airborne before the driver's side of the car hit a large tree.
Ms Maytom-Rollason was thrown from the car and died at the scene. Ms Pettit was trapped in the wreckage, before being extricated by paramedics and airlifted to John Hunter Hospital in a critical condition. Her injuries were too severe, and she died in hospital 24 hours later.
Mr Pettit, a retired paramedic, said he'd seen "a lot" in his career, including countless road accidents, but his granddaughter's death had left him unable to sleep.
"One thing I learned in my job is that you're never given a guaranteed number of years [but] this is the first time I've seen one of those accidents from the other side of it," he said.
"It's not easy. We just don't survive those kinds of accidents."
Jade Stockman, Ms Pettit's supervisor at the preschool, said she was a "natural" at the job she had begun three months earlier.
"She was really, really energetic [and] suited the job right down to a tee," she said.
"The children are already asking about where Tay is, and we're trying to get the information out to families. Everyone is obviously devastated."
Mr Williams said Ms Maytom-Rollason's time had "come too soon".
"Never take anything for granted ... you never realise the impact and how big of a part they had in your life until you will never have the chance to tell them," he said.
