A 17-month-old girl in the backseat of the car survived but was only discovered when police arrived to find 24-year-old Harrison McElroy and 31-year-old Kayla Sheppard dead on the side of the Forrest Highway near Yunderup, outside of Mandurah.

They were both young parents, in love and raising children together, when their lives were shockingly cut short. 

“The spark that they did have was genuine and pure,” friend Kahu Beard said.

Sitting by her side, another friend, Ebony Brown, said, “They’re together forever now”.

The couple was travelling to Waroona with Mother’s Day gifts on Sunday night when they pulled into an emergency lane near Mandurah.

For some reason they got out of their car and were fatally struck by a Volvo.

The driver tried to help but the pair could not be saved. 

Sheppard’s daughter was in the backseat of their parked MG sedan at the time of the crash. 

“She was so loving and doting on her daughter,” Brown said.

“When I first met her she just lit up the room, and it was just like magic.”

McElroy leaves behind his 18-month-old daughter, Ada, who he described on social media as “the most perfect little human”.

His brother today told 9News he was a “great father and a great son, uncle and brother”.

“He made a huge impact on all our lives,” he said.

Police are still investigating why the couple got out of the car. McElroy’s family don’t know why and say they likely never will. 

“I just hope that the family know that they’re very supported through this,” Beard said.