Geelong mum, son among Sea World chopper survivors
A fundraiser for a Geelong mum and son, who survived a deadly helicopter crash on the Gold Coast, has raised more than $31k as the community digs deep for the pair.
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The community has rallied for a Geelong mother and her young son whose helicopter crashed into another chopper near Sea World on the Gold Coast.
Winnie de Silva, 33, and Leon, 9, were among three survivors who were seriously injured during the horrifying incident in which four people were killed on Monday.
By Wednesday afternoon, a GoFundMe page had raised more than $31,000 for Mrs de Silva and Leon.
Mrs de Silva’s husband, Neil, told the Herald Sun the trio was on a “budget holiday” in Queensland when the pair decided to go on the joy flight.
“It was Winnie’s dream to take Leon on a helicopter,” Mr de Silva said.
“I thought I would shout them a 10-minute flight.
“We were on a budget holiday, trying to save money but I wanted them to have that experience.”
Mr de Silva said he was in disbelief when he saw the helicopters crash.
“Winnie and Leon’s helicopter took off, it only went about 200m in the air.
“I could see the other helicopter that was due to land … it looked like they were going to crash into one another.
“As it got closer, I was thinking ‘this is crazy, this looks really bad’ and I just went numb”.
Mr de Silva said he waited two hours to find out that his wife and stepson miraculously survived the crash.
“I feared the worst … I was praying,’ he said.
“That’s the sort of thing where you expect people to die but I was trying to be as positive as I could.”
Mrs de Silva was rushed to Gold Coast University Hospital where she remains in a critical but stable condition.
She has two broken legs, a damaged left knee, a broken right shoulder and a broken collarbone.
Leon was flown to the Queensland Children’s Hospital in Brisbane where he remains in a coma in a critical condition
He has facial and head injuries, a cracked skull and severe trauma to the brain.
“The hospital rang me early this morning to say the left side wasn’t responding how they liked,” Mr de Silva said.
“They asked my permission to drill a hole into the right side of his skull to attach a device to monitor his brain pressure.
“Winnie is very worried about him, we all are.”
Mr de Silva said his wife, who is a case manager at Bethany Group, thought she was going to die.
“She said to me a couple of times that her life flashed before her eyes,” he said.
“She closed her eyes and feared for their lives.”
Mr de Silva said Leon moved to Melbourne from Kenya about one year ago to be with his mum.
“This was his first helicopter flight,” he said.
“Everything is a new experience for him.”
Although the pair have a long road to recovery, Mr de Silva said they were the lucky ones.
“I feel blessed that Winnie and Leon survived,” he said.
“Four people died — they are blessed to be alive.”
On Wednesday, a Geelong sporting club issued a heartfelt plea for the pair.
The Lara Giants basketball club, one of the biggest in the region, released a statement in support of Leon and his mum, Winnie, in the wake of the crash.
A spokesman from the club said it was a “tragic” event and their thoughts were with the pair.
“Our own Giant family have been affected by this and they were lucky enough to survive, but have a lot of work to do to be back to health,” the statement read.
“If anyone in our community is able to help support the recovery the family would appreciate your help.”
“Wishing you all a speedy recovery.”
Kenyan Geelong community leader Manoti Magati said she was devastated and overwhelmed when she heard her friend had been seriously injured in the crash.
“Never in my wildest dreams did I think they would be in such a situation,” she said.
“Just the other day we were celebrating Christmas with them.
“They are the most beautiful people I know, humble and so easy to connect with.”
Ms Magati said the Victorian Kenyan community were supporting Mrs de Silva and Leon through prayer and moral support.
“As a community we would appreciate all that 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.”
Mr de Silva said his wife and stepson were still in the intensive care unit as of Wednesday morning.
Leon remains in an induced coma but is expected to be woken by specialists later on in the day.
The third survivor of the chopper crash is a 10-year-old boy, also from Glenmore Park in New South Wales, whose mother died in the crash.
He was taken to Gold Coast University Hospital and remained in a critical condition on Tuesday.
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.
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 Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office spokesman said it was in contact with local police after the tragedy on Monday afternoon.
“We are supporting the family of two British nationals who died in Australia and are in contact with local authorities,” the spokesman said.
The other victim was a 36-year-old woman from Glenmore Park.
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.
Australian Transport and Safety Bureau Chief Commissioner Angus Mitchell said they would be moved to a better location for “painstaking” investigations.
“What we do need to know is what was occurring in the cockpits at that time … what were the processes in place that are designed to protect helicopters in this situation,” he said.
Mr Mitchell said investigators would leave no stones unturned.
“(We will investigate) the weather at the time, to the tasking, to how long the helicopters had been operating that day, to how long the pilots had been flying, there’s a lot that goes into it,” he said.
“But exactly why this occurred, what was the range of visibility from both the pilots, what was happening inside the cabins at the time, they’re the things that will help us here … but it’s still very early stages in the investigating to start speculating.”
Mr Mitchell said it was “remarkable” the second chopper managed to land safely.
He said the helicopter which crashed had only been in the air for 20 seconds, but fell from a significant height.
“It does appear that the main rotor blade of the helicopter taking off has collided with the front cockpit of the descending helicopter on the left hand side,” he said.
“But that in itself has led to the main rotor and the gearbox separate from that helicopter which has meant tragically it had no lift and it has fallen heavily to the ground.”
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Originally published as Geelong mum, son among Sea World chopper survivors
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