‘We filmed it’: Snapchat crash passengers speak out
The friends of Shania McNeill, who died in a head-on collision after being filmed driving dangerously on Snapchat, have broken their silence.
The friends of a woman killed in a head-on collision moments after being filmed on Snapchat driving dangerously have broken their silence.
Hazel Wildman and Faeda Hunter made national headlines when Snapchat videos filmed by the pair appeared to show Shania McNeill, 21, moments before her death, driving her pink Nissan Micra recklessly, revving the engine, swerving into oncoming traffic as her passengers screamed in terror.
Ms McNeill, from Queensland, was killed when her car was involved in a head-on collision with a Nissan Micra at Berkshire Park in the early hours of April 28.
More Snapchat video of the night leading up to the fatal crash, which injured four people and killed Ms McNeill, obtained by The Daily Telegraph, shows the three girls skolling from cans and skylarking and driving around the streets of Sydney while Shania screams behind the wheel of the car.
Speaking out six weeks after the accident in an exclusive TV interview, Ms Wildman, 23, and Ms Hunter, 20, appeared tearful and emotional, telling Channel 7’s Sunday Night they’d share the full story of what happened on the night that killed their friend.
“I miss her, so much,” Ms Wildman said as she wiped tears from her face.
“We were the girls that filmed it,” an emotional Ms Hunter said.
“We can’t fix this,” she continued.
“This is what really happened,” Ms Hunter continues.
After the accident, the pair posted selfies from hospital to their social media accounts.
In the teaser for the program, Ms Wildman puts her hand up, saying she was the one who posted the photo, hours after the death of her young friend.
But the pair appearing on Sunday Night has been slammed by Shania’s grieving father Lee McNeill.
He told the Sunday Telegraph that he had been approached by two TV networks but didn’t believe anyone should make money from the tragedy.
“I’ve got a box of ashes in my garage. It makes me sick to involve money,” he said.
“It’s nice to know the girls are profiting of my daughter’s death.
“I was approached by two networks but I didn’t sign anything. It makes me sick to involve money.”
Shania McNeill died senselessly, killed when she smashed into an oncoming car. This week, @AlexTCullen talks to everyone involved in the tragedy as they struggle to understand this reckless and senseless waste of a young life. That's Sunday at 8:30pm on @Channel7. pic.twitter.com/kRlcufgMCH
— Sunday Night (@SundayNightOn7) June 12, 2019
The pair are due to appear on the program on Sunday night, and the program promises the pair will reveal everything about the events leading up to the accident which took Ms McNeill’s life
Dennis Sales, driving his silver Nissan Micra, was hit head-on by Ms McNeill’s Suzuki in the early hours of April 28, in Berkshire Park, west of Sydney. Also injured in the accident was his passenger Ken Morrow. The pair had been performing at a gig at the Riverstone RSL.
“They were playing chicken. It’s a death wish,” he said in the clip.
Mr Sales suffered critical injuries from the accident. He was in a coma for two days after the head-on.
Two weeks following the accident, still heavily bandaged, he gave an interview lashing the group after seeing the disturbing Snapchat vision.
“I’ve only seen that (video) a few times,” Mr Sales said.
“(My daughter) Sharon had told me about it and that’s only the second time I’ve seen it.
“It made me sick.”
A Gofundme has been set up to assist Mr Sales and Mr Morrow, as they continue their recovery from the accident.
The Snapchat video also attracted criticism from Shania’s grieving father in the days following the accident.
“I think it was reckless of them all to be sort of distracting each other,” Mr McNeill said of the disturbing video.
Mr McNeill said the knock at the door he received from police was “going to haunt me for the rest of my life”.
Assistant Commissioner Michael Corboy said following the accident that drivers being distracted by social media is a problem on the increase. He said it affects drivers across age brackets.
“It’s not just young people — it’s right through the (age) spectrum,” Mr Corboy said.
“Any trend of going to video or Instagram or any of those social media platforms and sending out video or taping while you’re driving is a trend we’re really trying to stop.
“The message needs to get through that if you continue to do this, you or your friends could continue to die.”