By Caroline Schelle and Jackson Graham
A Geelong West woman and her nine-year-old son were on a holiday in Queensland earlier this week when they were injured in a helicopter crash that claimed the lives of four people.
Winnie de Silva, 33, and her son Leon were in one of the two helicopters that collided midair about 2pm on Monday.
“Thankfully, they are both alive but have a lot of surgery ahead of them, which means the family will need to stay here on the Gold Coast and I won’t be able to return to work,” husband Neil de Silva wrote on a fundraising page for the pair.
“I’m hoping you can help us out with a small donation to keep us on our feet while Winnie and Leon recover. Any help would be greatly appreciated.”
In a phone interview, de Silva said the family was on the Gold Coast for a “short holiday” from Geelong when the crash took place. They had been talking about seeing the dolphins at Sea World since Leon arrived in Australia a year ago.
Winnie de Silva and her son Leon.
Winnie, a social worker, is in a serious condition at Gold Coast University Hospital, and Leon is in an induced coma at Queensland Children’s Hospital in Brisbane. “The left side of his body is not responding as it should at this stage,” said de Silva.
Because the family was on a “strict budget”, de Silva remained behind while his wife and stepson boarded the joy flight. He watched with confusion and then horror as the helicopter ascended, wondering if the other chopper had enough clearance.
“I’m thinking unless my eyes are deceiving me, these helicopters are going to crash – and then about two-thirds of the tail of Winnie’s helicopter just got smashed off,” he said.
“I thought she had died, I thought everyone on the helicopter would die.
Winnie de Silva, from Geelong West, and her son survived the chopper collision on the Gold Coast on Monday. Both remain in a critical condition in separate Queensland hospitals.
“Grateful is the world I have been thinking of since – they’re in a bad way, but I’m just grateful they survived and I feel sorry for the other people, as Winnie does.”
Tributes have been pouring in for the four people who died in the crash. Sea World chief helicopter pilot Ashley Jenkinson, 40, has been described as a “legend” and a “true gentleman”.
Two of the passengers who died in the helicopter piloted by Jenkinson – a 57-year-old woman and a 65-year-old man – were British nationals.
A spokesperson for the UK Foreign Office said in a statement: “We are supporting the family of two British nationals who died in Australia and are in contact with the local authorities.”
The other victim was a 36-year-old woman from Glenmore Park in Sydney’s west.
A 10-year-old boy, also from Glenmore Park, remains at Gold Coast University Hospital in a critical condition.
The helicopter that landed safely was flown by a 52-year-old pilot. His passengers included a 27-year-old West Australian woman, and two families from New Zealand who were travelling together – a 44-year-old man and 43-year-old woman from one family, and a 48-year-old man and 45-year-old woman from the other. Five of them suffered minor injuries.
with Jocelyn Garcia
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