Heartbreaking detail in mum’s final photo before she died in Sea World helicopter crash
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The final image has emerged of a mother and son posing while holding their ticket for a doomed helicopter flight.
Vanessa Tadros, 36, and her son Nicholas, 10, had beaming smiles in the photo taken as they waited to board their flight over the Gold Coast skyline on Monday afternoon.
But just a few seconds into the flight, his helicopter collided with another helicopter.
Ms. Tadros was among the four people who died in the accident.
Ten-year-old Nicholas is still fighting for his life in the hospital.
Vanessa Tadros and her son Nicholas, 10, before boarding the helicopter. News Nine Credit: NCA NewsWire
The helicopter crash killed four people, including pilot Ash Jenkinson. NCA Newswire/Scott Powick Credit: NCA NewsWire
The image of the couple is the last happy memory heartbroken husband and father Simon Tadros has of them.
He watched in horror from the ground as the collision unfolded.
In a social media post Tuesday night, he thanked the Australian community for their support and asked for your prayers.
“I ask that everyone please say a prayer for Nicky, so he can wake up and make a good recovery,” he wrote on Facebook.
He is in an induced coma on a life support machine to help him breathe.
“He is in a very serious and critical condition. I ask all his prayers to get my little man back to me.
His post comes as harrowing footage emerged from inside the cockpit of the other helicopter involved in the Sea World crash, showing the brutal impact of the crash.
In the video a passenger can be seen trying to alert the pilot moments before the horrific collision.
A passenger in the helicopter that landed with no casualties took the chilling video during the joy flight.
Investigations are underway to determine what caused the fatal accident. Credit: News Corp Australia/NewsWire/David Clark
Authorities have said they want to know what happened inside the booths. Credit: News Corp Australia/NewsWire/David Clark
The hand of one of the passengers can be seen hitting the pilot’s chair, with video paused just before impact.
Pilot Ash Jenkinson, British newlyweds Ron and Dianne Hughes and Sydney’s mother Vanessa Tadros lost their lives after the two helicopters collided on the Gold Coast on Monday afternoon.
One of the passengers can be seen trying to alert the pilot. 7 News Credit: Channel 7
They appear to be targeting the other helicopter. 7 News Credit: Channel 7
Winnie de Silva and her son Leon were among the only three survivors of the helicopter that fell to the ground after the collision.
Geelong West’s mother woke up at Gold Coast University Hospital overnight, describing the terrifying moments after the crash as pilot Ash Jenkinson desperately tried to save their lives.
“I heard a huge crash and the only thing I could feel was the shaking of the helicopter,” he told the Herald Sun.
‘I could see the pilot pressing all these buttons, stressed, he didn’t know what to do.
Leon is in stable condition at Queensland Children’s Hospital in Brisbane.
A step-by-step walkthrough of how the crash that killed four is believed to have unfolded
Winnie De Silva has woken up in a hospital on the Gold Coast. Image: GoFundMe page
It comes as one of the first people on the scene after the horrific Sea World helicopter crash has spoken out about efforts to save the victims.
Ron Drevlak and his wife were walking their dog on the Gold Coast when the horror struck right over their heads on Monday.
“The noise and thud of hitting the ground, I can’t get it out of my head,” Drevlak told 7 News.
He and others immediately rushed to help those trapped inside the helicopter wreckage, only to be met with a horrifying scene.
British couple Diane and Ron Hughes died in the crash. Image: Supplied.
Drevlak first saw Ron Hughes, who had been visiting the Gold Coast with his new wife Diane when they decided to board the helicopter.
“The first person I saw was Ron, we cut his seatbelt off and pulled him out of the way but he was very pale,” she recounted.
The couple were among the four killed in the accident.
His attention then turned to two other victims of the same helicopter, Winnie and Leon de Silva.
“That’s when I heard Winnie, she was just screaming,” Drevlak said.
“I said, look, don’t worry, help is on the way, it’s just water, we’re just trying to dilute the fuel.”