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A mother who moved from Kenya to Australia and dreamed of taking her son on a helicopter ride is now in hospital as her son fights for his life after his Sea World tour flight crashed.
Winnie de Silva, 33, and her nine-year-old son Leon, are among three passengers who suffered serious injuries when their helicopter took off from the theme park’s helipad on Monday afternoon and collided with another helicopter 20 seconds later.
Pilot Ash Jenkinson, 40, Sydney’s mother Vanessa Tadros, 36, and British couple Ron Hughes, 65, and Dianne Hughes, 57, tragically died when the Eurocopter EC130 plummeted into a bank of sand at Gold Coast Broadwater.
Mrs de Silva’s husband, Neil, had taken the Geelong family on a quick holiday to the Gold Coast and decided to yell at the couple for a 10 minute flight so they could have the experience despite being on a “cheap holiday”. to save money”.
Winnie de Silva, 33, moved to Australia from Kenya and her 9-year-old son Leon (pictured together) joined her just over a year ago.
Ms. de Silva has two broken legs, a broken right shoulder, a broken clavicle and a damaged left knee after the Sea World helicopter crash.
After seeing the couple off, Mr de Silva watched in “numb” disbelief as they ascended into the flight path of the other helicopter, collided in an explosion of glass and crashed to the ground.
“That’s the kind of thing where you hope people die, but I was trying to be as positive as possible,” he said. the heralding sun.
Ms de Silva is in Gold Coast University hospital with two broken legs, a broken right shoulder, a broken clavicle and a damaged left knee.
Her husband said that she told him that her life flashed before her eyes before she hit the ground.
The community support worker is stable but now faces months of surgeries, rehabilitation and recovery.
Leon, who moved to Australia just a year ago to be with his mother, is in a more serious condition having suffered a fractured skull, brain trauma and facial injuries in the accident.
He is being treated at Queensland Children’s Hospital in Brisbane and is now in an induced coma.
His son Leon has a fractured skull and is fighting for his life in the hospital
Mrs de Silva’s husband, Neil, had taken the Geelong family on a quick holiday to the Gold Coast and decided to yell at the couple for a 10 minute flight so they could have the experience despite being on a “cheap holiday”. to save money”.
“The hospital called me early this morning to tell me that the left side was not responding the way they wanted,” de Silva said.
“They asked my permission to drill a hole in the right side of his skull to connect a device to monitor his brain pressure.”
De Silva added that, despite their importance, he felt lucky that they both survived. he has started a GoFundMe to help with hospital bills.
The third survivor from the plane is a 10-year-old boy from Sydney whose mother, Vanessa Tadros, was among those killed.
He is also fighting for his life at the University Hospital of the Gold Coast.
The Australian Transport Safety Office is investigating the accident, particularly what was happening inside the two cabins at the point of impact, and has rescued both helicopters from the sandbar.
ATSB Chief Commissioner Angus Mitchell said Jenkinson’s plane had taken off and was airborne for less than 20 seconds before the main rotor blades struck the cockpit of the second helicopter, which was descending to land.
“Now, exactly whether that was the first point of impact, we have yet to determine,” he told reporters on Tuesday.
“But that in itself has led to the main rotor and gearbox separating from (Mr Jenkinson’s) main helicopter, which then had no lift, and it has fallen heavily to the ground.”
The two Sea World helicopters collided in front of hundreds of tourists on the Gold Coast.
The ATSB is now leading an investigation into what caused the two helicopters to collide.
Mitchell said it was a remarkable achievement that the other pilot landed despite the damage to his aircraft, and that his actions helped prevent a much worse situation.
“When any aviation accident occurs, there are huge forces at play, and in particular helicopter collisions,” he said.
“So the presence of mind to be able to land that helicopter, particularly considering the damage that we know occurred to the forward left side of the helicopter, it seems to have been a remarkable job to get it done.”
Sea World Helicopters, which operated both aircraft, and Village Roadshow Theme Parks offered their condolences to the victims, their families, guests and Sea World staff who witnessed the accident.
“We are providing support to our team members who have been emotionally affected by the tragedy,” Village Roadshow said in a statement.