Bronco Payne Haas’s mother Uiatu ‘Joan’ Taufua allegedly fleeing police before car crash
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The mother of a soccer star was allegedly driving on a suspended license and on the run from police before being involved in a horrific crash that killed three people and left her in critical condition.
Uiatu ‘Joan’ Taufua, 46, whose son is Brisbane Broncos player Payne Haas, remains in hospital after being carried out of a black Mercedes wagon after Friday’s collision with a silver Mercedes and a power pole in the hinterland of the Gold Coast.
Police allege that Ms Taufua was seen “driving erratically” shortly before the accident, which occurred around 5pm on Bonogin Road, Bonogin, and sped off when a patrol car activated its lights and sirens in an attempt to stop her. .
Uiatu ‘Joan’ Taufua, remains hospitalized after being involved in a ferocious car accident that killed three people
Police said they did not pursue the car due to public safety before Ms. Taufua crashed 1 kilometer later.
Ms Taufua’s license was allegedly suspended at the time after she served a month in prison, which ended in October, for assaulting two security guards at the Star Gold Coast casino.
After being pulled from his vehicle by a man who lived nearby, Ms Taufua was rushed to Gold Coast University Hospital where she remains with multiple fractures, internal injuries and bruised lungs.
The three victims of the accident in the silver Mercedes have been identified as Chris Fawcett, 79, his partner, Susan Zimmer, 70, and Mrs Zimmer’s daughter, Stephanie, 35.
Ms Zimmer’s surviving daughter, Claudine Snow, who lives in northern New South Wales, said she would never be the same again after the tragedy.
“My sister had an intellectual disability, but she could light up the room and make the coldest of hearts laugh,” she told Nine News.
‘She was amazing.’
Stephanie Zimmer (left) and her mother Susan (right) died in the crash
Chris Fawcett also perished in the incident.
Three people were killed in the gruesome two-car collision on Bonogin Road in the Gold Coast hinterland on Friday night.
Ms Snow said that her mother, who worked as a qualified accountant, was her best friend.
Mr Fawcett was a former skin cancer specialist, who, according to Ms Snow, had “saved so many lives”.
A family friend described the couple as “lovely people”.
‘Sue was always so kind and happy,’ she told the Mail.
Three crosses have been placed near the charred crash site in tribute to the victims.
Mr. Fawcett and Stephanie were dead when emergency crews arrived on the scene, and despite their frantic efforts, Ms. Zimmer died a short time later.
Passing motorists stopped to help at the gruesome crash site, and the man who pulled Ms Taufua from the burning wreckage of his truck later required trauma treatment.
Gold Coast Superintendent Craig Hanlon said the scene shocked police and emergency crews in attendance, as well as members of the public in attendance.
The 45-year-old man who helped free Ms Taufua from her burning car needed treatment at Robina Hospital for “emotional distress”.
A local woman said her husband ran to help after hearing a “massive crash” and pulled a woman from a vehicle moments before it exploded.
Gold Coast Superintendent Craig Hanlon said the force of the impact pushed the silver Mercedes into a power pole, which fell onto Ms Taufua’s vehicle and set it on fire.
The Brisbane Broncos player’s mother, Payne Haas (pictured, left), was pulled from her truck after the accident.
Superintendent Hanlon expressed his condolences to the friends and family of the victims.
“This was a tragic, tragic incident,” he told reporters.
‘But losing three people from the same family, you can’t recover from that.
“The thoughts and prayers of the Queensland Police Service are with his friends and family at this time.”
Police are still investigating the cause of the accident.
More than 1,000 homes and businesses in the area were without power after the power pole was downed, though most had power back within two hours of the accident.