Sydney tourist tells of lucky escape from tour bus crash in Central Australia

Sydney tourist Josh Clements and his partner are lucky to be alive after surviving a tour bus crash but they brought some joy to the story by getting engaged in Alice Springs. READ HIS STORY, WARNING GRAPHIC IMAGES

A YOUNG Sydney couple who survived a horrific tour bus crash in Alice Springs has brought “some joy” to their traumatic holiday by getting engaged.

After feeling “terrible” the day after the incident, Josh Clements acted to bring a “small silver lining” following such a tragic experience.

Self-proclaimed “nerd” Mr Clements had packed a custom-made Pokemon proposal card, ready to propose to his partner Elysse Lloyd in Uluru but obviously those plans were abandoned following the fatal bus crash on Monday afternoon.

Sydney couple Josh Clements and Elysse Lloyd with their nerdy token of love. A Pokemon 'will you marry me?' card. Picture: Supplied.

“I went out to the chemist to get painkillers and when I walked past EB Games, I got some Pokemon cards and added the custom-made card to the pack and went back to the hotel.

“I said to Elysse ‘I have a special one for you’, I then pulled that one out.”

Despite hurting all over from the crash injuries, Mr Clements got down on one knee and asked the question.

“It hurt to get down on one, it was really painful, and then I proposed and she said ‘yes’,” he said.

The custom made Pokemon card which Mr Clements used to ask Ms Lloyd to be his wife. Picture: Supplied.

Almost 48 hours on, the Sydney couple spoke about the trauma of the event that still looms in their thoughts.

Even being separated for a minute sends them both into a state of panic.

“It’s a bit panicky when we’re apart,” Ms Llyod said.

“Even when they wheeled me over to the gate, I got a bit panicky when he wasn’t here – it was just terrifying when we were in there and we couldn’t see each other and we were under all the people on the bus.”

Reflecting on the crash that killed a 69-year-old man who was sitting in front of them, the soon-to-be wedded couple philosophised about life with a greater appreciation.

“We’re both alive, that’s the main thing. You don’t know when it will be your last day and so you just need to appreciate and be thankful and take it all in,” Mr Clements said.

The couple plans to spend their honeymoon in Uluru – the location where Mr Clements originally planned to get down on one knee.

“The original plan was to propose during sunrise over Uluru. Instead it was in a hotel room bed. So we’re going to go back,” he said.

COUPLE RECALLS HORRIFYING CRASH

A SYDNEY man holidaying in Alice Springs was planning to propose to his partner of three years at Uluru before a horrific bus crash abruptly ended their trip on Monday afternoon.

Josh Clements, 33, and his partner, 31, were among 19 passengers on board a tour bus that had just left the tourist community of Hermannsburg about 130km from Alice Springs.

A 69-year-old man died in the crash and five others were taken to hospital in Alice Springs, including one who is in ICU.

The scene of a tour bus crash near Hermannsburg in Central Australia. Picture: Daniel Sumpton

Speaking to the NT News from Alice Springs, Mr Clements said he and his partner were sitting behind the 69-year-old man and his wife who were celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary.

Moments after the crash, Mr Clements checked on the “contorted” body of the 69-year-old man he had shared morning tea with earlier in the day, for vital signs but found nothing.

“We got his wife out, his wife was on top of him who was quite badly injured as well.

“When she got out she said ‘my husband’s blue, he’s gone’.

“We went back and looked and checked on him and he wasn’t breathing and there was no pulse.”

He said the man’s wife sat on the side of the road beside the wreckage and stared off quietly into space.

“She showed tremendous courage,” Mr Clements said.

Mr Clements has a black eye, bruising and minor scratches while his partner has deep bruising, scratches and lacerations on her upper thigh, which required 25 stitches.

“Every inch of my body hurts all over,” Mr Clements said.

“I had loads of glass in my eyes and mouth, it felt like I had bitten into a glass beer bottle.”

On holidays from Sydney, one of the next stops for the couple was Uluru where Mr Clements was planning to propose but for now, that will wait.

Injuries sustained in the crash. Picture: Supplied

“I’ve been replaying it, every second, the whole thing, especially the moment where we turned and I was weightless, I just remember thinking like ‘is this a dream?’.

Mr Clements said moments before the crash, the 4WD bus swung slightly before it started veering from left to right, flipping and rolling twice.

The bus landed on its left side at the edge of the road.

The tour bus laying on its side, following the crash near Hermannsburg. Picture: Joshua Clements.

“I remember being weightless and then just glass flying everywhere. People flying everywhere,” Mr Clements said.

“And then next thing, I’m on my side, undoing my seatbelt and there was everyone hurt and injured.”

His partner, who was seated beside him, woke up with her face centimetres from shards of glass.

Mr Clements partner’s upper thigh before she received 25 stitches. Picture: Supplied.

“So when the vehicle rolled, the glass shattered and my head was kind of on it and landed on the floor of the left side,” she said.

“I was just so lucky that the way the vehicle was shaped and also how the ground was, because the man who was directly in front of me, he was crushed under the vehicle.

“I would have died 100 per cent if I was seated where the man was, I would have been crushed.”

After the crash, Mr Clements snapped into action and began to ferry injured passengers through the emergency hatch located at the back of the vehicle, handing the injured through the exit to passers-by who had stopped to help.

Police are investigating the tragic accident but the NT News understands the back left tyre of the tour bus popped, causing it to lose control on the narrow major road.