UPDATE: Hope for critically injured driver who lost his son

The Goomboorian dad who lost his only surviving son in a horror crash with a packed school bus near Gympie on Tuesday is recovering in hospital from multiple serious injuries

Alan Stevens (inset) is recovering in hospital after being injured in crash that killed his son at Wolvi on Tuesday.

A 68-year-old Goomboorian man who was critically injured when his 4WD crashed into a Gympie school bus on Tuesday and killed his son is recovering in hospital.

Alan Stevens was airlifted to the Royal Women’s Hospital (check) on Tuesday from the fatal crash scene at Wolvi, where emergency workers had rushed to save the two men trapped in their vehicle, and the trapped bus driver.

Alan Stevens, who is recovering after being critically injured in a crash that involved a Gympie school bus on Tuesday.

The scene of a fatal crash involving a school bus and a 4WD at Wolvi on Tuesday afternoon. Photos: Scott Kovacevic

The driver’s adult son Josiah Stevens, who was a passenger, died at the scene, while Mr Stevens was left fighting for his life.

But this morning family friend Sheena Avison got some hopeful news when she was told Mr Stevens could be recovering in Gympie Hospital in a week.

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She said he had been moved to a ward after undergoing surgery to repair his broken ribs and multiple fractures in his arms and legs.

He was also suffering a punctured lung and an injury to his neck and was undergoing testing today.

He had been told about the death of his son, she said.

Jo Stevens tragically lost his life at Wolvi yesterday when the 4WD he was a passenger in crashed into a packed school bus. He died at the scene.

Alan Stevens with sons Clancy and Josiah when they were younger.

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“He is on heavy painkillers,” she said.

“He was operated on yesterday for his broken bones and getting an MRI this morning to make sure nothing was missed.

“He could be sent to Gympie hospital in a week,” she said.

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A HERO bus driver who saved a group of school children from a fatal car crash near Gympie yesterday has been identified as Julie Laffey.

Unspeakably it was the second son Alan had lost to a Gympie region road.

Alan‘s second son Clancy Stevens was 17 when he died while riding a trail bike with Joe at Goomboorian in 2013.

The driver of the bus, Julie Laffey, has been praised for saving the 26 students on board the bus by manoeuvring the bus to safety during the crash.

“The police officer at the scene told me that things could have been a lot worse if she didn‘t manoeuvre the bus the way she did,” a witness said.

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