Bryce Print sentenced after drink-drive crash leaves victims traumatised
Two teenagers have confronted a drink driver who caused a horrifying head-on crash that left them and their mother with lifelong trauma. READ THEIR VICTIM IMPACT STATEMENTS
Logan
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A Logan mother and her two teenage daughters have opened up about their lifelong trauma after the horrifying moment a drunk driver struck their car in a head-on crash, and how they still felt sorry for him despite their pain.
Leanne Tyrrell-Raddatz and her two daughters, Lola, now aged 15, and Phoebe Tyrrell-Raddatz, now 18, were driving home after collecting Lola from a birthday party on February 6, 2021.
They were driving along Hein Rd in Buccan when Jacobs Well pool finisher Bryce Print, now aged 32, came hurtling towards them in his car, while drunk at the wheel.
Print’s car veered into the Tyrrell’s causing a head-on collision. By the time police tested Print, he had a blood alcohol concentration of 0.190 per cent.
Last week, he pleaded guilty in Beenleigh District Court to one count of dangerous operation of a vehicle causing death or grievous bodily harm while affected by an intoxicating substance and one count of driving while under the influence of liquor.
In a powerful victim impact statement read out to the court, Ms Tyrrell-Raddatz described the moment before her life was turned upside down.
“It was a beautiful evening and I had just picked up my youngest daughter (Lola) from a birthday party and we were on our way to pick up my partner in Beenleigh for dinner,” Ms Tyrrell-Raddatz said.
Both parents of the sisters in the car consented to their daughters' identities being revealed following the court sentencing for Print.
“We were laughing, smiling, being a family.
“In an instant our happiness was shattered.”
“He collided into my car, totalling it, crushing me and my daughters inside,” Ms Tyrrell-Raddatz said.
“I heard a man swearing and then someone said that the car was about to go up in flames.
“I heard the jaws of life next to my head.
“I started floating to the white light on four occasions, not knowing what was happening to me.
“On the fourth occasion I opened my eyes and felt trapped, I couldn't move an inch.
“I was slumped over the steering wheel with blood coming from my nose and mouth, I couldn’t breathe.
“In that exact moment I thought I was going to die.
“I thought this was it for me and I thought I was leaving this world and I’d never get to see my daughters grow up.
“From that day forward my life has been hell.”
Ms Tyrrell-Raddatz recalled the moments spent in hospital wishing she had died.
“I regained consciousness one week later in ICU with glass in my teeth and blood in my hair,” Ms Tyrrell-Raddatz said.
“I was in hospital for a total of four months.
“I was scared and felt my life was over.
“I was alone in hospital because of COVID-19.
“I had 15 surgeries in total to keep me alive, the two first surgeries were life threatening.
“For four months I laid on my back, I was suicidal at time.
“I just wanted to die.”
Ms Tyrrell-Raddatz has not been able to return to her job as a disability and aged-care worker since the crash.
“I still struggle every day,” she said.
“I can’t bend my knee completely, my arms are filled with metal, I have a broken pelvis, it affects my intimate life, my personal life, my working life.
“I’m not the person I used to be.
“I will never forget this day.
“Trauma did not make me stronger.”
Her daughter, Lola Tyrrell-Raddatz, who was 13 at the time of the crash, read her victim impact statement in court and said in that moment she believed her mother was dead.
“My chest hurt, I couldn’t breathe, my sister was calling in pain, blood pouring out of her mouth and nose,” she said.
“I didn’t know what to do but I knew I had to get out of the car somehow.
“My body was so weak and there were flames flickering under the bonnet.
“I felt sick.
“My mum was pinned under the steering wheel, completely crushed.
“I believed my mum was dead.
“I lost my mum that day.
“How do I unsee that?
“I felt like I had to grow up quickly and the accident changed my life forever.”
Ms Tyrrell-Raddatz’s elder daughter, Phoebe, who was 15 at the time, suffered a fractured femur and wrist and underwent four surgeries which she believes has closed the door for her future in the military.
Both Ms Tyrrell-Raddatz and her daughters still attend trauma counselling.
Outside court following Print’s sentence — where he received a head sentence of five years’ jail, suspended after 18 months and a five-month license disqualification — she said that although the crash shattered their lives, they were diligently moving forward.
“We are relieved that this part of the accident journey is finally over,” she said.
“It’s been the worst two years of our lives and it still continues, with appointments to go to and the anxiety and depression never goes away.
“My youngest daughter Lola has suffered horrible anxiety to the point she hasn’t attended much school.
“It’s affected her badly too, but us three girls are survivors.
“But I still can’t help but feel sorry for the drunk driver.
“He is obviously suffering depression himself and has been struggling with alcoholism for a long time.
“Jail will change him and his life will never be the same again.
“But he chose to drink and drive that day and changed our lives forever.”
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