STATE Primary Industries Minister Steve Whan’s 18-year-old son was among the people involved in a horrific head-on accident at Bermagui on Far South Coast of NSW.
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Lachlan Whan was seriously injured but was able to exit the vehicle himself before paramedics arrived. He suffered shoulder, abdominal and back injuries, and was taken to Bega hospital before being airlifted out to a major Sydney trauma hospital.
The head-on collision between the two cars just north of Bermagui on Sunday saw five of the six occupants involved airlifted or transported by ambulance to hospital with serious injuries.
Senior Constable Dan Bishop from Bermagui said the collision happened at about 1pm when a Kia sedan containing two elderly residents from Wallaga Lake collided with a Corolla with four young people from Canberra.
The accident happened on Wallaga Lake Road about 100 metres east of the Cobargo turn-off.
The local couple were heading back home to Wallaga Lake while the Canberra car was heading into Bermagui.
It was not raining at the time and police are waiting to speak to the drivers once they recover to determine how one vehicle strayed into the path of the other.
The two most seriously injured passengers, a 17-year-old Canberra teen and an elderly local woman, were transported initially to Canberra Hospital by the Snowy Hydro SouthCare rescue chopper
Three others were transported by road ambulance to the Bega Hospital to be picked up by the NSW Ambulance rescue chopper for transfer to other hospitals.
A sixth man received only minor injuries.
Minister Whan released a statement on Tuesday morning confirming his teenage son had sustained serious injuries in the car accident.
Mr Whan’s son was airlifted to a Sydney hospital where he underwent surgery yesterday and is scheduled for more surgery tomorrow.
Mr Whan asks that he and his family’s privacy be respected during this difficult time as the recovery is expected to be a long process.
“I would like to thank all the emergency services workers who routinely go to these horrific accidents and save people’s lives.
“A number of good people assisted at the scene and airlifted my son to hospital, and we owe them his life. I’d also like to dearly thank the doctors and nurses who have worked on my son today.
“I also wish my son’s friends and the people in the other car a speedy recovery in what was a terrible accident.
“I won’t be commenting any further and hope my family’s privacy will be respected,” Mr Whan said.
Wallaga Lake Road was closed for about four hours during the accident investigation, with traffic diverted through the adjacent State forest and mountain bike track road.
Narooma VRA rescue squad vice captain Steve Urquhart said the initial call that three people were trapped resulted in the Bega VRA squad also being sent out to the accident scene to support the local squad.
“It certainly was one of the most intense accidents given the complexity of having two vehicles with persons trapped at the same time,” Mr Urquhart said.
The Narooma rescue squad set up both its Lucas hydraulic spreaders to extract the passengers, while the Bega rescue squad also set up its spreader and cutting equipment.
The Narooma squad handled the complex task of freeing a young man whose leg were crushed. With the hydraulic equipment (jaws of life) used to cut away the side of the vehicle and to push the front of the car off the man’s leg.
The VRA units worked closely with the volunteers from the Bermagui brigade of the Rural Fire Service who assisted with the extraction.
Narooma VRA Captain Jeff Garrad commented that all the services worked in well together to extract the occupants as quickly and as safely as the situation allowed
“It was a good result in the end with the patients freed to receive treatment.” he commented
Senior Constable Bishop meanwhile responded to another serious accident in Bermagui on Friday.
Two young local girls were heading down Alexander Road off Nutley’s Creek Road west of Bermagui when their vehicle collided with a flatbed truck at about 11.30am.
The two girls were transported to local hospital for treatment with this accident also under investigation.
Anatomy of a rescue
RESPONDING to Sunday’s accident were two rescue helicopters, three rescue squads, several ambulances, police cars and Rural Fire Service vehicles.
NSW Ambulance paramedics were among the first to arrive treating the accident victims. Those trapped in the cars were comforted while the rescue squad cut them free.
The two most seriously injured once freed were transported by ambulance down to the Bermagui oval where the Snowy Hydro SouthCare chopper airlifted them to the Canberra Hospital.
These included a 70-year-old woman from the Wallaga Lake area with neck and abdominal injuries, and a 17-year-old male from Canberra with chest, shoulder and possible internal injuries, as well as foot injuries and multiple cuts and abrasions.
The woman and the young 17-year-old were both trapped for about an hour, while a 18-year-old male was trapped for about 10 minutes.
The four others were transported to the Bega Hospital by road and the NSW Ambulance rescue helicopter flew to Bega from Wollongong to take these patients to other hospitals for treatment.
An 18-year-old male, who was able to exit the vehicle himself before paramedics arrived, was treated for knee and wrist injuries, while another 18-year-old male was treated for shoulder, abdominal and back injuries.
The final patient from the Canberra car was a 25-year-old male with only minor injuries.
He and the 74-year-old man, who was treated for serious ankle, chest and wrist injuries, were transported together to the Bega hospital.
A NSW Ambulance spokesman said the cooperation between all the emergency services was outstanding in what would have been a horrific and confronting scene.
