Miracle as Geelong chopper crash victim wakes from coma

A Geelong boy left fighting for life in the Sea World chopper tragedy has woken from a coma but still faces a long road to recovery.

Winnie de Silva has broken her silence the helicopter crash that killed four people and seriously injured her and her son Leon.

The nine-year-old Geelong boy left fighting for life in the Sea World chopper tragedy has miraculously woken from a coma and appeared to give a thumbs up to his mum from his hospital bed.

It can be revealed that Leon de Silva had a video call with his mother, Winnie, who has been treated in a Gold Coast hospital 70km away and has been desperately wanting to see her son in intensive care in Brisbane.

Stepfather Neil de Silva confirmed to the Herald Sun that Leon had moved into a stable condition on Thursday.

It is understood Leon is breathing on his own but still faces a long road to recovery.

Mr de Silva confirmed Mrs de Silva was able to check-in on her son via a video call, where he appeared to raise his right thumb at his mum.

Leon was placed in an induced coma after suffering facial and head injuries, a cracked skull and severe brain trauma. Picture: Supplied

Another witness who ran to help has also come forward to provide more details on the aftermath of the collision, which led to the helicopter Winnie and Leon were riding in plunging to the ground from a 200m height.

Gold Coast resident Ron Drevlak recalled how he raced to help Winnie who was still trapped inside the helicopter with “raw aviation fuel” pouring on to her.

“I just started grabbing buckets of water and tipping it down the tail section which was broken off, it was running down on her and she was screaming,” he told Sunrise.

“I fell to my knees and said to her, don’t worry I’m just pouring on water to try and dilute the fuel.”

Other bystanders had also rushed to the scene, which Mr Drevlak said was extremely hot and filled with an “overwhelming” smell of aviation fuel.

Investigators examining the devastating crash have been inundated with videos and witness accounts.

‘DEATH IN MY EYES’

Speaking to the Herald Sun from her hospital bed on the Gold Coast – nearly 70km away from her critically ill boy in Brisbane’s Queensland Children’s Hospital – Mrs de Silva described hearing a loud bang seconds before the chopper plummeted to the ground, killing four people.

The Geelong west mother and Leon were among only three survivors from the wreckage.

“I heard a huge bang and the only thing I could feel was the shaking of the helicopter,” she said.

“I could see the pilot pressing all these buttons, stressed out – he didn’t know what to do.

“I don’t remember much (after that) but everyone was trembling and worried.”

Winnie de Silva survived the Sea World helicopter crash on the Gold Coast. Picture: LinkedIn

The 33-year-old said she squeezed her son’s little hand as tightly as she could.

“We didn’t know what to do … it all happened in a second,” she said.

“The only thing I could see was death in my eyes.

“I didn’t want to see death in my eyes so I closed them and held my son’s hand beside me.”

The next thing she remembers was screaming for help as she lay trapped under the crashed helicopter.

“My feet and right arm were stuck,” she said.

“I remember screaming and yelling out for help … I wasn’t able to get out.

“A police officer came over and asked my name – I couldn’t even remember my date of birth.”

Winnie with husband Neil de Silva who was not on the chopper but watched on in horror. Picture: Supplied

Winnie is currently separated from her son Leon who is still in critical condition in hospital. Picture: Supplied

Gold Coast boatie Travis Slater, who was only 100m away when the disaster unfolded, was among the first to rush to the carnage on the sandbank, describing “debris” everywhere.

He said he saw Leon lying on the sand and feared the worst until he heard him moan.

“I heard him and then I thought s***, there’s some life there,” he said.

“I stayed with him and another girl came over and she was trying to comfort him, saying: ‘It’s going to be all right’.

“It really hit home for me because he looked around the same age as my daughter.”

He said he then heard Winnie’s chilling screams, before going to comfort her and tell her Leon was alive.

“She started screaming and someone else was comforting her, saying stuff like: ‘It’s OK, your boy is here, he’s alive’, and then after a few seconds the screaming stopped,” he said.

Mrs de Silva suffered two broken legs, a damaged left knee, a broken right shoulder and a broken collarbone in the horrific crash.

She is expected to remain in hospital for several weeks and faces a lengthy recovery but not being able to be at Leon’s bedside is all she cares about.

“We hope for the best when he wakes up,” she said.

“That’s my only worry right now.”

Authorities lift the mangled wreckage of the helicopter from the scene on Tuesday morning. Picture: Scott Powick

Leon was placed in an induced coma after suffering facial and head injuries, a cracked skull and severe brain trauma.

Doctors were expected to try to wake him late on Wednesday but he is likely to remain in hospital for several months.

As the family anxiously waits for further updates on his condition, the Geelong community has rallied around them, with more than $35,000 in donations raised by 5pm.

Kenyan Geelong community leader Manoti Magati praised the “Aussie spirit”.

“We appreciate all the Australian community is doing in supporting one of us,” she said. “The Aussie spirit is truly alive and I am grateful that I live in such a wonderful community.”

She said the de Silvas were “the most beautiful people I know” and the community had been devastated in the wake of the crash.

The Lara Giants basketball club, where Leon played, has also made a heartfelt plea to members to dig deep and support Leon and Mrs de Silva on their road to recovery.

A spokesman for the club said it was a “tragic” event that had affected the entire club – one of the region’s biggest.

Mrs de Silva moved to Australia from Kenya about four years ago and married her husband Neil three years ago.

Leon made the move one year ago to be reunited with his mum and stepfather.

A shattered Sydney father who witnessed the Sea World helicopter crash that killed his wife has asked the community to “pray” for his surviving son, who is on life support after tragedy struck on their interstate holiday.

Simon Tadros’s wife Vanessa died instantly when the aircraft she and her son Nicholas were joy-riding in during a day out at the Gold Coast theme park collided with another identical helicopter shortly after takeoff, killing a total of four people.

Mr Tadros remains by his son’s bedside at Gold Coast University Hospital where the 10-year-old remains fighting for life, having undergone four surgeries since the crash.

The helicopters – joy flights operating out of Sea World at Main Beach – collided in the air over the Gold Coast Broadwater about 2pm on Monday.

The collision left pilot Ash Jenkinson and three passengers from one chopper dead as hundreds of visitors to the packed theme park watched on in terror.

Mr Jenkinson welcomed his first child, a son, in September last year.

Chief pilot of Sea World helicopters, Ash 'Jenko' Jenkinson, 40, was killed in the crash.

Two of the people killed are British citizens – a 57-year-old woman and 65-year-old man – who were in Queensland on holiday.

The pilot of the second helicopter, which had five passengers on board, miraculously managed to land on a sand bank in the middle of the Broadwater, with everyone aboard able to walk away.

These include the pilot, a 52-year-old Clontarf man, and passengers, a 27-year-old Western Australia woman and two families from New Zealand who were travelling together, a 44-year-old man and 43-year-old woman from one family and a 48-year-old man and 45-year-old woman from the other.

Originally published as Miracle as Geelong chopper crash victim wakes from coma