Gold Coast stunt man Matt Mingay in near-fatal Super Trucks crash film

Four years ago Gold Coast stunt driver Matt Mingay was a ‘dribbling’ mess in hospital after a near-death smash - now he’s the star of his own raw comeback film.

THE remarkable survival of Gold Coast stunt driver Matt Mingay who briefly “died on the spot” in a truck racing smash is the subject of a confronting new documentary with exclusive footage of the crash.

But Mingay, a Hot Wheels star who has had to teach himself how to talk and ride again, said yesterday he can’t watch some of the video of himself in hospital soon after.

“It's me in hospital pretty much as a vegetable, dribbling. I haven’t seen the footage because it’s too emotional for me. I feel so sorry for my wife Sheena who had to deal with that.”

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Gold Coast film maker Brad Day and his Defy Productions team are close to finishing the indepth film which tracks Mingay’s long road back to racing and features never-before-seen crash footage from inside Mingay’s truck cab when it rolled.

Gold Coast Stunt rider Matt Mingay who was nearly killed in Super Trucks crash has had a documentary about his comeback and near death done. Matt Mingay and his wife Sheena Mingay at their Mt Nathan home this week. Picture: Glenn Hampson

At the time of the June, 2016 crash during a Stadium Super Trucks race in Detroit, he had to brought back to life on the track but his battle had only just begun.

His bottom jaw was obliterated, he ended up in a coma and had to breath through a tube inserted into his neck, spending weeks in hospital recuperating before returning to Australia.

The raw documentary pulls no punches with a trailer seen by the Bulletin quoting one commentator on the incident, saying: “He was pretty close to having his whole head torn off.”

The trailer features tear-jerking reflections from his mother Veronica and Gold Coast motorsport icon Paul Morris who says of Sheena: “How she handled that whole situation was just completely amazing. I’m probably getting pretty emotional just talkinabout it right now.”

Sheena, trackside when it happened, also wells up in the trailer saying: “All of a sudden, just like that, life just changes. It's your partner and your soul mate and your best friend and to suddenly think all of that might be taken away.”

Gold Coast Stunt rider Matt Mingay with wife Sheena. Picture: Glenn Hampson

The pair have since worked as a team on his recovery to the point he is back stunt driving and even took part in his first Super Trucks race earlier this year at the Adelaide Supercars event.

They have also had a child since the accident, two-year-old daughter Zarlee ‘Danger’ Mingay. Mingay also has an older son Maddox who is following in his footsteps.

Mingay said yesterday the film was “full on” but he’s excited for its scheduled release in late May, early June depending on distribution deals.

“I feel very lucky to be alive. I have had to strive hard to get my fitness and brain power back again.

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Footage of Gold Coast stunt driver Matt Mingay's Stadium Super Trucks near-fatal crash at Michigan in June 2016. He lived to tell the tale after temporarily dying on track...and now a documentary about his comeback is nearly done by Defy Productions. Picture: Defy Productions

“I have done everything under the sun to get back on the track and I’m just very thankful to all the people who helped me. Every day is a blessing.”

Mr Day said he had been working on the film for about four months and it begins with Mingay at the most recent GC600 event late last year.

Gold coast stunt driver Matt Mingay hospital in Michigan in the early days of his battle back after a near fatal crash in the Stadium Super Trucks in June 2016. A documentary by Defy Productions about his survival and return to stunt driving and racing is nearly complete. Picture: Defy Productions

The pair worked together before on shorter videos before embarking on the full-length project which Mr Day said was just awaiting finishing touches: “We have gone overboard spending time with him and going around the country and it’s a good opportunity for me too get into that realm of documentary.”

It is tentatively titled ‘Mingay: Challenge Accepted’.

Back in September, 2016, three months into his recovery, Sheena told the Bulletin: “Anyone who knows Matt well knows no one can push him harder than he can push himself. Matt wants to be 100 per cent tomorrow — so he will do everything possible to make that happen.”