Springfield Mother’s Day fatal crash survivor speaks out
After a southeast Queensland nurse found herself in the middle of a Mother’s Day double-fatal crash at Springfield she desperately tried to find a passing mechanic who helped her - and now he’s been found.
Ipswich
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A Ripley nurse who found herself in the middle of a horrific fatal Mother’s Day crash at Springfield made a public plea for help to find a passing mechanic who helped her through the traumatic experience - and now she’s found him.
Three cars had collided on the Centenary Highway at Springfield, leaving two people dead and three critically injured - Nurse Meghan Krogh was the only one to walk away from the wreckage.
Ms Krogh said Peter Parker had stopped and checked to see if she was okay, and she was determined to do the same for him 24-hours later.
“He seemed appreciative of me reaching out,” she said.
“We spoke on Facebook and just showed support and said if you need to reach out or be able to talk we’d be there. I feel like it’s easier to heal when you have someone that’s witnessed the same thing as you.
“He said it was a natural instinct to help me and in a way I feel like it helped him as well.”
Mr Parkers daughter told The Queensland Times her dad is an incredible man and hero to all six of his daughters.
“He’s legitimately the best person in this entire world and I know everyone says that about their dads but I mean it when I say that about my dad, he’s an amazing man outside and inside,” she said.
Ms Krogh said she was incredibly lucky and grateful to have only suffered minor injuries after her Mitsubishi lancer was hit by an on coming car.
“All I can remember is the car coming over the road, on the cement, and then I just woke up and put my car in park, got out and called triple-0 straight away,” she said.
“It was so scary because it felt like I was on the brink of death.
“I didn’t know what to do, there was no one else.
“There were people stuck in their cars and I couldn’t do anything, no one could until emergency arrived.
“So I just went around to one of the cars and just tried to speak to them in a way to help, but anyone in that shape wouldn’t have been able to take it in.
“All I wanted to try and do was help but I knew the mental state I was in, it would be unsafe and I’d just get in other people’s way.”
The 24-year-old said she had to step away because she became overwhelmed by the confronting experience.
“And that’s when Peter came in – I don’t know where he came from,” she said.
“He saw how upset I was and came over and gave me a big hug, he was like a father figure – he wrapped his arms around me and kissed my forehead.”
Mr Parker was on his way to work when he saw the crash and checked in on Ms Krogh to see if she was okay.
Ms Krogh told the man she had been on her way to Gympie for Mother’s Day to see her baby niece for the first time.
She was taking a present – a pink bunny rabbit bag – for the visit.
“I looked down at my car and said ‘do you think you could buff this one out?’ and he said ‘yeah nah, no hassle at all mate,’” she laughed.
“For me if you don’t laugh you cry.
“I needed to see the light in the darkness and was like ‘right I need to find this man’ because he really did help me. I’m very grateful.
“Kindness is such a big thing in this world and I feel like it should be recognised.”
Ms Krogh said her medical training helped her to cope with the situation, however it was difficult being a helpless witness as well as being on the other side of the stethoscope.
“The hardest part is I was the only one there that was able to get out of the car,” she said.
“In retrospect I am very lucky to be able to have someone to give me a hug while those victims didn’t have someone there to console them like I did – that’s why I want to find him to thank him and give him a hug.
“It was a very emotionally draining day but someone was looking out for me, I’m very lucky.”
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