Residents scramble to assist driver in Silkwood crash
A CAR accident on Wednesday which left 26-year-old woman fighting for life at Townsville University Hospital has wreaked havoc on a Silkwood street and traumatised its residents
Colin Van Eunen who lives in a converted church said he was asleep at the time of the incident until he heard a crash and the sound of broken glass.
“The stained glass downstairs was sprayed halfway through my property. My dog got sprayed, but he’s all right now,” Mr Van Eunan said.
Mr Van Eunan, who stepped on a live wire on the way to the vehicle, said he couldn’t see the car at first as it was “disguised” by a tree branch.
“It was very quiet. There was no sound at all. I carefully made my way around to the driver’s side but that was on the ground and I didn’t want to touch the car because I didn’t know where the power was going,” Mr van Eunan said.
“I made it to the sunroof but couldn’t see in the vehicle because of steam. I saw the lady’s arm hanging out the window pinned to the ground and very bloody.”
Mr Van Eunan said he tried yelling at the woman to elicit a response . “I thought she was dead at the time,” he said.
As soon as his neighbour came out, he said he yelled for her to call an ambulance.
“It was the most helpless feeling for about 20 minutes while waiting for emergency services arrived,” he said.
The neighbour, a 76-yearold Silkwood resident who did not wish to be named, said she heard two cars speeding down her street at 4am before she heard a screech, a bang and “an enormous explosion.”
“When she hit the power pole, it flipped the car on its side and the back of the car hit the cement pole on my gate and slid along taking out the fence,” the witness said.
The 26-year-old patient was flown to Townsville University Hospital. A Hospital spokeswoman confirmed the patient was in a critical but stable condition.