Aged care operator CEO pays tribute to tireless and hard-working worker
Hall & Prior Chief Executive Officer Graeme Prior has written a public message of condolence to staff, residents and family members from its Concorde aged care home in the inner-city suburb of South Perth after a beloved employee died in a car accident.
Sendeku Tesema, 58, died, along with his two passengers, an 81-year-old and 56-year-old mother and daughter, when his taxi was hit head-on by 43-year-old’s Rabin Rawal’s Toyota RAV4 on Monday, 13 January. Rawal was driving on the wrong side of the road in what is believed to be an act of murder-suicide.
He started working at Concorde aged care home in 2012 as a carer. Before moving to Western Australia, he worked with International Rescue Committee Kenya Program in the Kakuma Refugee Camp from 1988 and worked in the community-based rehabilitation program where he had many roles before later working as an Occupational Therapy Assistant and supervisor from January 2000 to late June 2009.
"The Field Coordinator's letter of commendation said Sendeku worked tirelessly and diligently and was an outstanding example to his team members,” said Graeme in his message of condolence.
Sendeku arrived in WA from Nairobi, Kenya’s capital city, in September 2009 and worked at two other aged care sites before joining Hall & Prior.
“Sendeku was a hard-working and respected member of the Concorde family and will be greatly missed. According to Director of Nursing, Jesusa Silverio, and his fellow carers, Sendeku was well liked and respected by all staff at Concorde,” said Graeme.
“There have been many tears at Concorde since news of his passing was received after this tragic event, in the early hours of Monday morning, 13 January.”
Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church held a service for Sendeku, who leaves his wife Nigist Zemachi Feleke, and three children, a son and two daughters, on Thursday.
A GoFundMe campaign was set up by his daughter Eyerusalem Achamyeleh to cover the cost of taking his body back to his birthplace Ethiopia. She disabled the account at $20,757.
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