How Greyhound bus tragedy bound a digger and young US tourist for life

It was mayhem on the highway when a horrific Greyhound crash left three dead and a busload battered. But from the wreckage rose an unlikely mateship between a seriously injured American tourist and the quick-thinking Aussie soldier who helped save him.

WO2 Jason Ballard has been awarded Queensland Police Service District Officer’s Certificate of Appreciation at the Townsville District Honours and Awards Ceremony. Picture: Shae Beplate.

In the wreckage of one of Queensland’s deadliest bus crashes, a powerful friendship was born — forged in chaos, sealed by compassion.

Warrant Officer Class Two (WO2) Jason Ballard, from the 3rd Combat Engineer Regiment, was off duty when tragedy struck on June 30, 2024.

A Greyhound bus carrying 33 people collided with a 4WD towing a caravan near Gumlu on the Bruce Highway, killing three women and injuring 27 others.

Among the dead were German tourists Aliya Tonga, 21, and Marissa Martin, 33, as well as beloved Townsville local Emma ‘Alli’ Sailor, 56.

The carnage was immediate and the scene was confronting.

WO2 Ballard and his wife had been on their way to Proserpine to pick up their grandson when they pulled up to the crash site just one minute after impact.

Without hesitation, he climbed aboard the mangled bus and went straight to work.

Photographs taken in the immediate aftermath of a horror fatal Greyhound passenger bus crash at Gumlu on the Bruce Highway. Picture: Supplied

Inside, he found Dylan, a young American tourist, seriously injured and sitting alone.

“He had abdominal injuries and a couple of head contusions,” WO2 Ballard recalled.

“The only thing that saved him was that he was against the window sleeping at the time of the crash. If he’d been sitting anywhere else or he’d actually been up. It might have been a different story for him.”

After lifting up Dylan’s shirt and seeing the extent of his injuries, WO2 Ballard made the tactical call to keep him stable and in place until paramedics arrived.

“I didn’t want to move him just in case,” he said.

Also injured was another young man behind Dylan, being helped by his girlfriend applying pressure to a bloody neck wound.

Photographs taken in the immediate aftermath of a horror fatal Greyhound passenger bus crash at Gumlu on the Bruce Highway. Picture: Supplied

WO2 Ballard said he did what he could, all while witnessing horrific scenes.

“One of the ladies near the front [who later passed away], she couldn’t have been moved. I didn’t realise that she was still alive until I’ve probably been on the bus about five minutes because she gurgled. Unfortunately there wasn’t too much we could do for her. She bore the brunt of it.”

Dylan was the only passenger that was required to be flown from the scene.

After helping him on-board the chopper, WO2 Ballard drove straight back to Townsville University Hospital, staying by Dylan’s side as the young tourist faced the ordeal alone.

Their bond didn’t end there. Once Dylan was discharged, Ballard welcomed him into his regiment as a guest of the 3CER, cementing a mateship that lives on to this day.

“I have an American family now, he’s still in contact. We’ve got Christmas cards and got gifts from them. They send me photos of how young Dylan’s going and everything,” he said.

Also hailed for his selfless actions was Lance Corporal Kai Watson from 3RAR’s Mortar Platoon, who was returning to Townsville from the Whitsundays when he stopped to assist.

He helped triage the injured and supported emergency services as they worked through the chaos.

The incredible efforts of both defence men were formally recognised this week, with WO2 Ballard and LCpl Watson receiving the Queensland Police Service District Officer’s Certificate of Appreciation at the Townsville District Honours and Awards Ceremony.

Originally published as How Greyhound bus tragedy bound a digger and young US tourist for life