'I promised Billie I would become her voice': Mum's mission of kindness

Danny Mayson-Kinder was living a ‘perfect’ life when a tragic accident took her eldest daughter.

It's a loss she's yet to recover from. In fact, she says she'll never recover from it.

"I promised I'd get up every day for my older daughter Charlie, and I do," Danny tells 9Honey. "I also promised Billie that I would become her voice."

"She was such an incredible soul, and I promised that I would make sure that everybody would know the sort of girl Billie was and her message. I'm basically trying to do what she would have done herself."

Danny, 53, and husband Dave, 56, have been together for 23 years. The couple met when they were working as dive instructors at the Whitsundays.

Their children – daughters Charlie, 18, and Billie, who died in 2016 at the age of 12 - were born in Queensland before the family moved to Sydney to be closer to the equestrian world both girls were enchanted with.

Danny has trouble speaking about the accident that claimed her daughter's life, even now, three years later.

Billie went to catch her pony, Diesel, like she did every day. It is unsure how or why, but her family believes something must have scared the pony and Billie somehow became entangled with the lead rope, suffering serious injuries.

She died later in hospital.

"I don't normally go there and I'd rather not," she says. "It was just a freak accident no one will ever comprehend. You think about it all the time. And I hear her, I just hear her say, 'Mum, it was just my time'."

What always stood out for Danny, and everyone who met her daughter, was Billie’s kindness. Spreading that message of kindness has given the grieving mum a sense of purpose, and a way to keep her daughter alive.

The family name is 'Kinder', as in 'kindergarten', but many mistakenly pronounce it 'kind-er'.

That's how 'B Kinder' was born, using Billie's initials 'B Kinder' for 'Be Kinder' — serendipity at its finest.

Billie was a prolific writer and artist, filling books with profound poems and thoughts and drawings. She had, in fact, just received an academic scholarship to high school due to her extraordinary writing ability.

When Danny started going through her daughter's belongings following her death, she was struck by how much of herself she had left behind.

Danny couldn't think of anything better than to share her daughter's work with the world as part of her efforts to help make the lives of children better.

It was important to her that the materials supporting her daughter's registered charity - FlyHighBillie - take children off technology, which is why Billie's book 'Hope' and a series of B Kinder workbooks and cards authored by her daughter are in print form only.

Multiple schools across the country and overseas have picked up on the annual 'B Kinder Day' on June 22 and have also started using the 'B Kinder' workbooks provided by FlyHighBillie to teach children about kindness, compassion and empathy.

Danny says the 'B Kinder' workbooks are unique, interactive, positive tools designed with the help of teachers and psychologists that can be used in a pro-active way to help prevent mental health issues and bullying.

"It's working, it's absolutely working," she says of the initiative.

All profits from the books and merchandise go to charities including Assistance Dogs Australia, Feel the Magic, Bear Cottage and AllKids.org.

As for Billie's sister Charlie, Danny says she's doing really well.

It was children's grief camp 'Feel the Magic' that helped her eldest begin to recover from the tragedy, and she now works at the camp as a mentor to help other bereaved children.

"She has mentored at six camps now," the proud mum says. "That really turned her around."

Find out more about B Kinder by visiting the official website.