Injured teen reveals grief after best mate’s Timothy Hocking’s car crash death

Ashley Gulliford was just 17 when a drunk driver ended his best mate’s life and irrevocably altered his own. One year later, he’s revealed how his injuries — and that night’s impact — left him “changed forever”.

A teenager left deaf and blind on his right side after a horrific crash that killed his best mate has detailed his traumatic recovery as the driver responsible faces a lengthy jail term.

Ashley Gulliford’s life “changed forever” when the car he was a passenger in sped through a roundabout and crashed into a tree in Tootgarook just after 1am on April 12, 2019.

“I have been through hell,” the 17-year-old said in a victim impact statement read out in the County Court on Tuesday.

He has only recently been able to return home after spending 10 months in hospital where he has had to undergo multiple brain surgeries, having almost 150 staples in his head and scalp, and vigorous rehabilitation to get his balance back to walk again.

He also had to be fed through a nasal tube, and to this day has to drink through a straw.

Emergency services at the scene of a fatal car crash at Tootgarook. Picture: Andrew Henshaw

The only thing that helped him get through his injuries was a photo of his friend Tim Hocking sitting beside his hospital bed.

Timothy, also 17, had died in the high-speed crash.

“I loved Tim like a brother,” Ashley said, adding how the photo inspired him and helped “to keep me focused”.

But Tim wasn’t the only thing Ashley had lost.

His hearing in his right ear, and the sight in his right eye were gone.

He now has to wear a patch over his eye as it won’t close or blink.

Nerve damage to his face means he has also lost the ability to smile.

“This crash and the injuries I have will never leave me,” Ashley said.

“Before the crash I was an outgoing typical teenage boy. I loved skateboarding. I loved school.”

Fun days at the beach with friends can no longer be enjoyed because his eye injury means he can no longer submerge his head under water, he said.

Doctors have advised him his brain injury, and the prosthetic part of his skull, will also prohibit him from plane travel and skateboarding would be too risky.

Timothy Hocking died in a car crash at Tootgarook in April 2019.

“Skating was my life and it is another thing this crash has taken from me,” he said.

“I miss my old life – but most of all, my best friend, Tim Hocking.”

Moments before the crash, Timothy had sent a video to his girlfriend showing his skateboarding friend, Brandon Phongthaihong, 22, driving at 151km/h in a 60km/h zone while music blared in the background.

The group had earlier been at a Sorrento skatepark where Phongthaihong was witnessed falling over and laughing as he tried to skate, saying “I’m too f----- up for this”.

He then got in the car and was filmed doing burnouts in the nearby IGA supermarket car park.

Blood tests in the hours after the crash found he had a blood alcohol reading of .189 per cent, likely as high as. 229 per cent at the time of impact with the tree.

Phongthaihong has pleaded guilty to culpable driving, two counts of negligently causing serious injury and conduct endangering life.

He will be sentenced on March 18.

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