But earlier this week the pair, who are grieving for different reasons, were brought together in an attempt to bring some closure to an incident which has changed their lives forever.

Mr McGuinness was the driver of a truck involved in an accident which killed four people and left another with critical injuries on the Bells Line of Road, near Bilpin, on October 1.

Mrs Byrne’s daughter Mallory, aged just 23, was one of the victims.

Earlier this week, after a long and painful search which culminated with a comment on the Daily Liberal website, the pair was put in contact with each

other and Mrs Byrne had one message.

“I told him it wasn’t his fault and we didn’t blame him for the accident,” Mrs Byrne said.

Those words came as a welcome relief for Mr McGuinness, who has been taking things “one day at a time” since the accident.

He said while the grief the pair shares was different, it would ensure a friendship that will continue to grow in the future

“She’s a wonderful woman,” Mr McGuinness said of Mrs Byrne.

“It would be easy for her to be angry and upset with the people involved in the accident but for her to ring me and tell me she didn’t blame me for what happened lifted a lot of burden off my shoulders.

“We chatted twice, for about an hour each time, and it made me feel a lot better about the situation.

“I know nothing can change what happened but having that contact and being able to share our feelings with each other was great.”

For Mrs Byrne, the hunt for Mr McGuinness’ identity was one that started in the hours after police told her that her youngest daughter, a mother of four young children herself, was dead.

She said she had already

made plans to visit Dubbo with Mallory’s two youngest children.

“I think speaking to Mick was beneficial to both of us,” she said.

“We were just so distraught about how he must have been feeling and we just wanted him to know that we didn’t blame him in any way.

“He was the innocent bystander in all of this and we weren’t sure how he was coping with the guilt so we wanted to tell him he had nothing to feel guilty about.”

The pair are hopeful the story of their grief during the past five weeks will be enough to convince motorists that their actions on the road can have far-reaching ramifications.

“I’ve buried my parents and other family members but the pain of burying your child is unbearable,” Mrs Byrne said.

“If we can go to our graves when we are 95 and have saved someone’s life by making them think about how they drive then these four lives will not have been lost for no reason.”