A survivor of a Sea World helicopter crash has spoken out about her continued pain, fear and regret nearly a year after the Jan. 2, 2023, disaster.
As Winnie De Silva and her son Leon, 9, try to move on with their lives, a report and never-before-seen footage of what happened is about to be released.
Four people died and nine others were injured, with the survivors bearing much more than just physical scars from that fateful day.
Ms De Silva and Leon's helicopter – who suffered brain injuries – collided with another shortly after taking off from the resort, changing their lives forever.
'Just the thought of it, just the thought of death. That or how we survived – it has been very difficult and emotionally damaging for both myself and Leon,” she shared 7News.
Sea World helicopter crash survivor Winnie De Silva (pictured with her son Leon) has spoken out about her continued pain and fear almost a year after the January 2, 2023 disaster
While Ms De Silva's physical recovery continues – she only had shoulder surgery a few days ago and is in constant pain in her legs – for Leon the trauma is more psychological.
'Leon is not doing well psychologically. He gets very emotional,” she said. 'He feels it in himself. He knows he's changed.'
Guilt over what was meant to be a unique experience also haunts Ms De Silva.
“Leon didn't want to take that helicopter ride,” she said.
'I wish I'd never done that because it was a five or 10 minute drive. But two minutes later our lives change dramatically.
“What I remember is the bang and then things falling on our faces and then the sky and then the crash.”
The mother said the situation felt hopeless because it was completely out of her control.
'We're in the air. I have no other escape. Where do I go from here? So I surrendered everything and I said, 'let what will be done be done' and I was just… I was shocked.”
Mrs De Silva thought she and Leon were both going to die.
'How we survived… a miracle. Angels then came to protect us,” she said.
The one-year anniversary on Tuesday will be another traumatic day in a year that has already brought so many terrible days.
But she hopes the Australian Transport Safety Bureau's (ATSB) forthcoming report into the crash will provide some answers.
Although the full report is still several months away, an interim report will be released next week.
'The question is: what really happened? “I would like them to answer that question for me,” she said.
'That must never happen again. Or it shouldn't have happened in the first place.'
It shows an image of broken glass flying through a helicopter that had just crashed into another helicopter on the Gold Coast on January 2, 2023.
The wreckage of one of the crashed helicopters is pictured on the Gold Coast on January 2
The ATSB has conducted hundreds of hours of analysis and interviews with more than 80 witnesses, including survivors.
The agency reviewed video footage taken from victims' cellphones and found by police divers. They also used 3D computer technology to recreate what happened.
In an earlier summary released last March, there were suggestions that the two pilots may have been 'flying blind' and that there had been no communication with each other in the lead-up to the tragedy.
After the full ATSB report has been handed over, a coronial inquest will take place.
Rescuers are pictured at the scene of a helicopter crash near Sea World on the Gold Coast
The photo shows the two helicopters that collided at Sea World on January 2