Senior Constable Chris Leonard’s condition improves after being in induced coma following crash with truck

The condition of a police officer and father-of-three who was critically injured and placed in an induced coma after a horror crash on the Cunningham Highway has significantly improved.

Emergency crews working to retrieve Senior Constable Chris Leonard from his vehicle after the crash. Picture: 9 News

A police officer and father-of-three who was critically injured in a horror crash on the Cunningham Highway has undergone surgery, with his condition improving significantly.

Senior Constable Chris Leonard was injured when his police vehicle collided with a truck travelling in the same direction at Warrill View, southwest of Brisbane.

Taken to Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital in a serious condition, he was placed in an induced coma after the crash which happened about 12.40pm on Friday.

His family on Tuesday said they wanted to convey their thanks to all of his wellwishers and for the encouragement for him to recover and mend.

The officer, who has been with the Queensland Police Service for 18 years, was the only person in the vehicle when the crash happened.

The Courier-Mail has been told Sen Const Leonard was attempting to stop a vehicle when his vehicle clipped the back of the truck, however Ipswich Superintendent Kylie Rigg declined to confirm if the officer was trying to pull over a vehicle.

Senior Constable Chris Leonard. Picture Queensland Police

“I’m not aware that there was anything that the officer was responding to, so far as a job or a call to service is involved,” she said.

Queensland Police Union president Shane Prior said colleagues and the family of Sen Const Leonard had experienced “extraordinary amounts of anxiety since the collision”.

The officer’s injuries included fractures to his legs and arms, dual punctured lungs as well as a significant head injury.

“To the nurse, the off-duty police officer and the truck driver on the scene at the time of the incident as well as paramedics, firefighters, the aeromedical team and of course his colleagues who came to his aid – they are the reasons why Chris got through those first critical hours and got to hospital to seek the help that he needed,” Mr Prior said.

Originally published as Senior Constable Chris Leonard’s condition improves after being in induced coma following crash with truck