The family of two boys killed in a horror roadway crash have relived the moment they held their nephew’s skull together after he was pinned between two cars.
Brothers Burak and Huseyin Pek, aged three and eight, were playing football in an alley behind their grandparents’ house in Braybrook, Melbourne, just after 5pm on Tuesday when they were struck by a Toyota Prado driven by a man without permit.
The driver, Ngoc Thanh Vo, arrived in Australia from Vietnam six days before the incident and is said to have mistaken the accelerator for the brake as he drove along the lane behind four townhouses.
Police told the Melbourne Magistrates Court he was generally unfamiliar with driving a car when he went around the block alone in a Toyota Prado.
CCTV footage shows the vehicle suddenly accelerating and hitting three parked cars and the two children.
The force of the impact caused a parked car to collide with Burak, while Huseyin was pinned between the Prado’s bull bar and the rear of another car.
Huseyin and the car were pushed over a concrete gutter at the end of the lane, down a patch of grass, across a road and into the fence of a neighboring property.
Burak suffered minor injuries, while Huseyin underwent surgeries for several serious injuries after the tragedy.
Huseyin’s aunts Ayse and Betul Aydin said they rushed to help their cousins after hearing the screeching of tires.
Brothers Burak (left) and Huseyin Pek (right), aged three and eight, were playing football in an alley behind their grandparents’ house in Braybrook, Melbourne, when they were hit by a car driven by a man without a driver’s license.
Huseyin, 8, was pinned between the bull bar of the Toyota Prado and the rear of a second car, suffering injuries to his pelvis, leg and femoral artery. He remains in a serious condition at the Royal Children’s Hospital (pictured)
“You heard the tires burn and within two seconds it (the crash) happened,” Ayse said 7News.
Betul said the family desperately searched for eight-year-old Huseyin and eventually found him between two cars.
“He (Huseyin) was stuck between cars, all we would see was his head,” Betul said.
“His skull was open, I ran to him and held his head until they rescued him.”
He was trapped for about 20 minutes until emergency services arrived. He suffered injuries to his pelvis, legs and femoral artery that required multiple surgeries, police said.
“I was there the whole time, holding his head together, making sure he was talking, making sure he didn’t close his eyes and making sure he was breathing,” Betul said.
‘People were trying to break free of the cars but I said “stop, don’t do it” because his body was in between, he could have bled.’
Both Ayse and Betul said it was a “miracle” that their cousin survived and thanked everyone who prayed for him.
Huseyin is expected to spend the next few months at the Royal Children’s Hospital recovering from his injuries.
His family started one GoFundMe page to help his parents with medical and rehabilitation costs after the ‘near-fatal’ crash.
Thanh Vo was charged with dangerous driving on Tuesday evening over the incident.
The 48-year-old unlicensed driver, Vo Ngoc Than (right), was charged with dangerous driving. Vo, who arrived in Australia from Vietnam six days before the incident, is said to have mistaken the accelerator for the brake
CCTV footage shows Vo returning to the lane where the vehicle suddenly accelerated and hit three parked cars and the two children (pictured)
Police have taken twelve weeks to compile a piece of evidence, which is expected to include a mechanical reconstruction of the crash and a forensic analysis of the boys’ injuries (photo, crash site)
Vo was also charged with reckless conduct endangering serious injury, driving without a license and careless driving.
The court heard Vo had never been licensed and was in Australia on a partner visa, living with his wife who supported him in court.
Police have asked for 12 weeks to compile evidence, which is expected to include a mechanical reconstruction of the crash and a forensic analysis of the boys’ injuries.
Vo was granted bail and will appear in court again on January 31 next year.
Under his bail conditions, Vo had to surrender his passport and report to police twice a week.