Nobody should have been alive on Gaven Way as a family car lay crushed under a semi-trailer.

A Nerang woman lay dead under the wreckage of the semi and the surviving passengers of the car had been taken away.

The tow truck drivers were already on scene, stubbing out their smokes and getting ready to take the mangled wreckage of the sedan and truck away to reopen the road.

Police were wrapping up their investigation of the scene, just the latest car crash on the stretch of the road when the miracle occurred- a scream for silence rang out.

The seconds ticked by as officers’ eyes darted around and ears pricked up trying to pick up the noise amid the roaring wind on the then-rural road.

The cries got louder and one of the officers followed the piercing sound to the wreckage and looks inside. There was no sign of life.

Crawling on his hands and knees through broken glass and twisted metal, the officer climbed inside the shattered vehicle and there, under the crumpled dashboard stuck among the wiring was a baby.

Against all odds, little Leah Bosse was alive.

This is the story of how one of Australia’s most famous photos was captured admit a tragedy that shook the Gold Coast.

The Accident

The Bosse family, from Victoria were on the Gold Coast for the Easter holidays when the car crash shattered their trip.

In the car was Kevin Bosse, his wife Robin and daughters Jennifer, then-eight and close family friend Beverly Brooks from Nerang

The semi-trailer came hurling down the hill along Gaven Way and drove straight over the top of the car, which was stationary at the time.

Jennifer and Mrs Brooks were both propelled through the back of the car and under the truck while her father was trapped in the boot.

Baby Leah was tucked under her mother’s arms being breastfed at the moment of impact, something which was believed to have saved her life.

The Photo

A BLOOD-soaked baby cradled in the arms of an ambulance officer who pressed the small body close to his own.

A colourful dummy hung on a string still attached to the newborn, blowing in the wind as it is carried away from the wreckage of her family car.

Sirens filled the air as weary emergency services workers swarmed the scene of the horror crash on the narrow stretch of road.

The body of Mrs Brooks lay underneath the semi as a young photographer surveyed the scene, spotting the small infant in the arms of veteran ambulance officer Joe Nardello and snapped a photo.

The moment, immortalised in an award-winning photograph by Grant Nowell, shocked the Gold Coast and was seen around the world.

The Girl

LEAH Bosse lived but has never met the man who carried her away from the horror crash.

That famous frame captured the miracle survival story from one of the Coast’s worst moments, but it’s a moment the now-grown girl has no memory of.

“Thank God I don’t remember it,” the mother of four told the Bulletin from her Perth home this week.

“It was pretty horrific and it affected everyone in my family. At the scene my mum had to be knocked out because she was so distressed.

“I have always known about that famous photo because my parents kept a scrapbook in it and I grew up seeing it.”

As an adult Ms Bosse has put her energies into being a mother to her four children — Imogen, 12, Ashton, 11, Zac, 6 and Sawyer, 2 with husband Mark Beedham.

Despite the fame of the photo and a lifetime of hearing about her miracle survival, Ms Bosse said she is yet to meet Mr Nardello, the man who she says saved her life.

She looks back today on the crash and says it helped shape her life and become a mother.

“I know people could not believe anyone could have survived and looking back I feel like the accident must have happened for a reason.

“I feel like I was led down a different path and took what was a horrible experience and used it to my advantage.”

The Rescuer

JOE Nardello has never forgotten the moment he carried baby Leah away from the carnage.

It was just one moment in a career in the ambulance service which lasted 26 years.

Now 81 and happily retired in his longtime home at Carrara with wife Margret, Mr Nardello says he remembers the day clearly as one of the worst accidents he attended during his career.

“We were surprised anyone had survived the wreck and when I got to the scene I walked down to the vehicle and the officer in change, Sid Cross handed me the bub as I got to the door,” he said

“He told me ‘here is a little baby I’ve just extracted’ and handed the child to me.

“I walked back up the hill with the child in my arms and the bubby was breathing.

“It was my job to care for it until everyone else was ready to transport.”

Following a long career, during which he was stationed at Southport Mackay, Cairns and Atherton, the veteran emergency worker retired from active service and put his skills to use in a new way- fitting baby capsules into cars for new parents.

His career finally came to an end in 2014 when the service ceased.

The Photographer

GRANT Nowell closes is eyes and he can still remember baby Leah’s dummy blowing in the wind as she was carried away from the wreckage.

In a career full of famous photos, including that infamous shot of Foreign Minister Alexander Downer wearing stockings and high-heels, the 60-year-old says the image affected him like no other.

Now retired and living in Adelaide, the then-Bulletin staff photographer says the memory of the accident scene remained fresh 35 years later.

“I remember it like it was yesterday and in a 40 year career as a news photographer I have never had a job like it,” he said.

“I was coming back from a job and right in front of me on Gaven Way the semi just went over the car. I was right there when it happened and it was terrible, just a mess.

“The police assumed the car was completely wrecked and was empty and they were about to take it away when they heard a noise. They climbed into the car and found the baby and passed her out to Joe.”

Mr Nowell stayed back from the scene and raised his camera to capture the moment.

“I remember the dummy swinging in the wind as Joe carried the baby right up towards me,
he said.

“I wasn’t overcome by it, even though I was young. My newspaper sense kicked in and I kept a respectful distance and got the shot.”

The then-25-year-old rushed back to the Bulletin’s Molendinar officers and went straight to the dark room to develop the images, unsure of what he had.

As the images developed and the negatives became clear, Mr Nowell realised the power of the moment he had captured.

“I knew I had pictures but of course I thought they could have been out of focus so I got back to the office, saw what I had and I couldn’t believe it,” he said.

“Whoa was what I said and I just saw the dummy swinging in the wind.”

He rushed downstairs to the newsroom and showed the photo to Bulletin Editor John Burton and newsroom boss Frank Hampson who agree the image was powerful and published it on the Bulletin’s front page.

It would go on to win several state and national photographic awards including a Rothmans.