Joel Wright’s girlfriend was within five minutes of being in fatal car crash

The last time Lora Lewis saw her lover alive she was finishing her shift and tossing up whether to catch a ride in the car that would crash with catastrophic consequences 30 minutes later.

The girlfriend of Burnett Heads crash victim Joel Wright came within five minutes of joining him in the car ride that would end his life.

The last time Lora Lewis saw her lover, Nicholas “Joel” Wright, alive she was finishing her shift behind the bar at the Central Hotel in Bundaberg and it was 1.30am on Saturday, August 5.

Little did she know that within the hour, Joel would be dead.

Lora, 20, had been living with Joel at his mother’s Gin Gin home since May, with their friendship blossoming into a romance following the death of Joel’s previous partner, Chelsea Maddox, in a fatal crash in Maryborough in March 2023.

After finishing her bar shift around 1am, Lora went to meet Joel and three other friends, a 23-year old man and a 19-year old couple, where they were drinking in the smoking area of the hotel.

The group was talking with Joel about leaving to do some “skids” (burnouts), and he wanted Lora to go along with them to catch a lift back to Gin Gin.

Lora had been living with Joel at his mother’s Gin Gin home since June, with their friendship developing into a romantic relationship following the death of Joel’s previous partner in a Maryborough crash in March.

Space was tight in their friends’ car, a white 2004 Holden Commodore, so Lora was going to sit on Joel’s lap for the trip back home.

As they were talking the pub became busy, and Lora was called back to help out behind the bar around 1.25am.

About five minutes later Joel came to see her at the bar to tell her the group was leaving.

Pleading with Joel to wait for her, Lora poured him a vodka and red bull and he left to rejoin his friends, telling Lora that he loved her for the last time.

“I said ‘Please wait for me, I’ll be five minutes’,” Lora said.

“He told me he loved me and that I looked good, and then he left.

“He didn’t even want to go to the skids.

“I begged him not to go, and he didn’t want to go, he just wanted to stay with me – but he didn’t.”

“He told me he loved me and that I looked good, and then he left.” The last time Lora Lewis saw Joel Wright alive was at the Central Hotel, where they exchanged their touching last words.

Lora was unable to find them when she finished at the bar five minutes later, and guessing that they had left to do burnouts she sat down at the exit door at the back of the hotel and tried to call Joel.

At 1.45am Joel sent Lora a brief text message saying “Oi”, to which she replied “come and get me”.

Joel didn’t reply, so Lora tried again to call him to no avail.

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Becoming increasingly concerned with every passing minute, Lora tried calling all the friends who were travelling with Joel in the Commodore.

“I just kept calling and calling and calling everyone that was in that car,” she said.

According to police reports, the Commodore in which Joel and his friends were travelling along Burnett Heads Road rolled and hit a pole shortly before 2am.

Joel, who had been sitting in the front passenger seat, was critically injured and died at the scene.

Their friends, the 23-year old man driving the car and the 19-year old couple in the back seat, all survived.

While consumed with grief, Lora Lewis is consoled by sharing Joel Wright's last moments with him.

One of those friends called Lora at 2.20am to give Lora the news of Joel’s death, which she refused to believe at first.

“Nobody answered until about 20 minutes after it happened – they told me he was dead and I didn’t believe him,” she said.

An ambulance officer came on the line, and after asking Lora to confirm Joel’s name and birthdate the officer reaffirmed that he had died in the crash, sending Lora spiralling into a nightmare of grief and loss with which she was still consumed days later.

“They asked me everything about him and confirmed it was true,” she said.

“I dropped to the ground and screamed for someone to take me there.”

A friend took Lora to the scene and parked around 200m from the wreckage, with Lora then running towards where she could see Joel lying on the ground next to the car.

“It was like a movie … I feel like it’s a dream,” Lora said.

“He was just lying out of the car, lifeless. I was screaming for him but he couldn’t reply.”

A police officer picked Lora up and moved her to a safe location, and the 19-year old woman who had been travelling in the car came to comfort her, with Lora still refusing to believe Joel had gone.

“I was screaming ‘he’s not dead, you’re wrong’,” she said.

Joel Wright's previous partner, Chelsea Maddox, died in a single-vehicle crash in Maryborough in March 2023.

Lora said Joel was wearing his seatbelt, a firm habit he had adopted after Chelsea’s death.

“He always made sure you always had a seatbelt on, that was one thing he always made sure of.”

Lora said Joel would be missed by his large circle of loved ones for whom he would do anything, and she feels some small consolation in having shared the end of his life with him.

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“Everyone that he had in his life, which was so many people, he loved and he’d do anything for,” she said.

“He was just a big nice, cuddly teddy bear. I’m just glad I got to spend his last moments with him.”

Lora took further consolation from Joel’s wishes, uttered in the depths of his grief for Chelsea, that he wanted to be reunited with her in the afterlife.

“He always said he wanted to go be with her,” Lora said.

“So I guess that’s what he’s done.”