Father of charged truck driver Jamie Gleeson says son is ‘very distressed’ over crash

The father of the truck driver charged over the Eynesbury school bus crash says his son is devastated by the incident and will have to “live with this for the rest of his life”.

The father of charged truck driver Jamie Gleeson says his son is “very distraught” and maintains Tuesday’s crash was an accident.

Two children have had hands and arms amputated, eight kids suffered life-threatening injuries, and a further 30 were injured after Mr Gleeson crashed into the Exford Primary School bus at Eynesbury.

Robert Gleeson, known in the harness racing industry as “Ginger” Gleeson, told the Herald Sun his son would have to “live with this for the rest of his life”.

“He’s going to have to live with this accident and it won’t be something that’s going to go away overnight, we’re all going to have to, and we all support him,” the 70-year-old said at his Balliang East property on Thursday.

Robert ‘Ginger’ Gleeson says his son Jamie Gleeson is very distressed after the crash. Picture: David Crosling

Jamie Gleeson is facing four charges of dangerous driving causing serious injury. Picture: Facebook

“He’s very distressed, he’s going to take a while to get over this.

“He’s very distraught, he’s more distressed about the fact that there’s children involved and families involved.”

Jamie Gleeson was on Wednesday granted bail in Melbourne Magistrates’ Court over four charges of dangerous driving causing serious injury.

The father-of-two is a long serving CFA volunteer, serving the Ballan and Balliang East brigades for over 20 years.

Mr Gleeson said his son was a “very honest man” who loved helping people in need.

Mr Gleeson’s truck struck the bus from behind. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

“Unfortunately, a lot of people will be affected by this with their children and Jamie is very, very upset about that fact,” he added.

“That’s his instinct all the time, he jumped out of the truck and he called triple-0 straight away, and he got out and helped get the kids out of the bus, that’s Jamie’s nature.

“He’s a very soft person, he cares about people very much.

“He’s a good lad, he doesn’t have tattoos all over him, he doesn’t have rings hanging out of his bloody nose, ears and eyes.

“He’s a very clean-skinned young man and he’s always trying to do things for everybody else.”

In a statement from Christians Bus (formerly Bacchus Marsh Coaches), the company said: “Our thoughts and best wishes are with our driver, the students and families and the school community affected by Tuesday’s incident”.

“We are incredibly grateful for all the emergency services people, members of the public and our own staff who responded and provided support to our driver and the students on board,” the statement said.

“We commend our driver for his efforts in trying to avert the incident and protect the children and the school principal for her endorsement of the seatbelt policy. Without these two actions, the outcome could have been significantly different.

“Thank you to all members of the community who have offered messages of support for our driver and other members of our team who have also been impacted by this incident.”