A mother who fled war-torn Ukraine to build a new life in Australia was swept off the rocks to her death in front of her horrified family.
Olya Tikhanova, 40, was on a week-long holiday up the WA coast with her husband and 14-year-old daughter when she swept off rocks at Salmon Beach, near Esperance, while taking a photo about 11am on Saturday.
She was pulled from the water but could not be saved.
Ms Tikhanova emigrated to Perth from her home in the southern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia, one of the epicentres of the Russia-Ukraine war.
The city has been bombarded by Russian missiles, with the most recent attack last month killing at least eight.
Ms Tikhanova’s husband, Vlad, had secured a job as a welder with Alloy Steel International in Perth just days before Russia invaded in 2022.
He later brought over his late wife and daughter, with Ms Tikhanova also securing a job with Alloy Steel, reported the West Australian.
Olya Loginova, a fellow Ukrainian expat living in Perth, said that Ms Tikhanova was ‘impossible to forget’.
‘Her genuine smile, boundless energy, and love for life touched everyone who had the privilege of knowing her,’ she wrote.
‘She left behind a warmth that will always stay with us.
‘Now her husband, Vlad, is preparing for the funeral while also caring for their daughter. The weight of this loss is unimaginable.’
A GoFundMe page for the devastated family has so far raised almost $22,000.
‘Our little light stopped shining and our life became darker,’ the page sttates.
‘The overflowing stream of kindness, laughter, warmth, love and radiance stopped.
‘Without a doubt, the people who were touched by her spirit will never forget her. Olya made people around her better, and the memory of her will keep them that way.’
Ms Tikhanova’s death is the second tragedy at Salmon Beach since 2020, when tourist Faycal Al Saidi, 32, was swept off rocks.
His body was never found but an inquest held in 2022 ruled that he had drowned.
Since the start of summer on December 1, there have been 44 drownings across Australia.
