Grieving mum Haylee Loccisano’s dire warning after crash claimed her unborn baby’s life

She lost her unborn daughter in a car crash at a notorious accident blackspot. Now, Haylee Loccisano is calling for changes to prevent further heartbreak.

Three months before Haylee Loccisano, 25, became the victim of a head-on car crash that killed her unborn daughter, she watched a teenager get sliced in half “like a can opener” at the same corner.

She was in the car with her father in February when they caught the tail end of a fatal crash at Ipswich Boonah Road, southwest of Brisbane.

“It was an 18-year-old and his car had been split in half and his body was hanging out the side and I just obsessed over what I saw and that corner, it traumatised me a fair bit,” she told this masthead.

“A police officer who came to the scene said he lost his brother at that same corner 18 years ago.”

Haylee Loccisano, holding her daughter Celeste’s urn. The unborn baby was killed in a car crash at Ipswich. Picture: Steve Pohlner

Weeks later, on May 16, Haylee was in the car with her mother and niece when a RAV4 careened around that same corner on Ipswich Boonah Road, veered onto the wrong side of the road at 100km/h, and smashed into her family’s HiLux.

The 17-year-old driver, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was running late for her netball game.

She later pleaded guilty to driving without due care causing grievous bodily harm to Haylee and destroying the life of her unborn baby.

Haylee Loccisano and her husband Connor were excited to be parents until a car crash killed their unborn daughter. Picture: Facebook

The teenager was sentenced to 100 hours of community service and banned from holding a license for six months.

“She swung around the corner and literally the last thing I saw was headlights right in front of us,” Haylee said.

“There wasn’t even time to scream, it happened that quick, but it’s true what they say about your life flashing before your eyes because I’m telling you, a million and one things went through my head as I saw we were about to crash.”

Haylee Loccisano spent a week in a coma after a crash that killed her unborn daughter. Picture: Facebook

The Loccisano’s daughter was born via emergency C-section, but she died within about 30 minutes. Picture: Facebook

Her organs were ripped from the abdominal wall, she was bleeding internally behind her ribs, her uterus split in half, and the placenta popped. She only survived because her unborn daughter Celeste’s head took the full force of the impact.

Haylee was unconscious when her daughter was delivered via emergency C-section. Doctors were only able to keep Celeste alive for 30 minutes before she stopped breathing. Marks from the crash were visible on Celeste’s body.

While Haylee was in a coma, her husband and mother-in-law went to the corner to see where the crash happened.

The crash scene at Ipswich Boonah Road, southwest of Brisbane, where Haylee Loccisano lost her unborn baby Celeste.

The driver escaped the situation unscathed because there was no oncoming traffic.

Haylee said a number of people had approached her to say they almost crashed on the same corner.

“There are so many easy preventions for that corner, all you’d have to do is slow it down or put a few signs there that say it’s a high crash zone, it would cost the government pennies and it would prevent so many crashes,” she said.

Haylee said she remembered being a teenager and taking risks on the road.

“I just feel like 17 is so young to be on your own by yourself in a car, because a car is like a weapon – you’re giving a 17-year-old a weapon – and I think maybe change the age to 21 or something,” she said.

“There’s got to be some laws that stop kids from driving on their own (without adult supervision).”

Originally published as Grieving mum Haylee Loccisano’s dire warning after crash claimed her unborn baby’s life