CRASH LEAVES FAMILY SHAKEN
TOWNSVILLE mother Olivia Darlow says she is still too scared to drive 11 days after her Hyundai Elantra was totalled by a ute.
Ms Darlow said she was stationary at the lights on the corner of Woolcock and Hugh streets in Garbutt with her two sons in the back when a Holden Colorado ute with a bullbar hit them from behind.
“There are two lanes that turn into four lanes where you can turn left or right on to Hugh St,” she said. “We were still in the two lanes before it converts into four and we got pushed up to where it converted into four.”
Ms Darlow said the incident was traumatic for her and sons Trystahn, 12, and Kyahn, 11, who has autism.
“Kyahn was just completely nonverbal, non-communicative; he didn’t look at anybody. Very scary. I was shaking uncontrollably and crying,” Ms Darlow said.
“I screamed before it … I turned around to make sure they were OK and Kyahn was as white as a ghost.”
Ms Darlow said while the ordeal was frightening, it could have been a lot worse.
“Normally my car is sitting in the garage. I have a small Ford Fiesta. My husband took my car to work in order to fill it up for me. When we got hit we were in my husband’s car.
“It would have been a fatality for my boys if it was my car. We were hit at around 70km/h.”
Ms Darlow and her sons jumped out of the vehicle after the impact and waited until the police arrived.
They were later taken to hospital, with Ms Darlow going to the emergency department for assessment and put in a neck collar while her sons were treated in paediatrics.
“Kyahn had instant back pain, shooting pain down both sides of his neck into his back. He flew forward hitting the seat in front of him and then back – the seatbelt unlatched.
“Trystahn injured his shoulder. The pain hit about 15 to 20 minutes later when the adrenaline wore off. I didn’t realise my pain until we were at the hospital and a nurse asked how I was. I burst into tears.”
Her car was taken to ABC Towing’s holding yard on the morning of the accident and then to Pickles Auction Holding Yard four days later.
“The car is completely unusable,” Ms Darlow said.
She is frustrated she has not yet heard back from CGU Insurance and that the assessor’s work on the damage has not yet been done.
“I told them it wasn’t good enough having a child with special needs and needing to get to and from appointments and school starting back soon. It’s so frustrating” Ms Darlow said.
CGU was contacted for comment.