Teen girls survive horrific car crash after not wearing seat belts

P-plater Ebonie Wadwell was driving on a remote country road with her friend Madeleine Carter as passenger — both not wearing seatbelts —when she lost control of her car, and was flung out of it. Her life was saved by paramedics in the new season of Ambulance Australia. LISTEN TO THE TRIPLE-0 CALL

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On a remote dirt road on the outskirts of Sydney, a hysterical teen makes a frantic triple-0 call.

“My friend’s making noises and she’s not talking,” the distressed young woman cries.

Madeleine Carter’s best friend, Ebonie Wadwell, has been catapulted from the out-of-control speeding car she was driving, leaving her in a critical condition.

“We rolled and flipped into the bush,” the 18-year-old tells the NSW Ambulance call-taker moments after the crash.

“The car’s beeping. Does that mean it’s going to blow up or something?”

Madeleine Carter lost control of her car and crashed on a country road. Her friend Ebonie Wadwell suffered critical injuries. Picture: Channel 10

As emergency crews battle to save Ms Wadwell’s life, they are shocked by another find at the scene — both girls weren’t wearing seatbelts.

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“It just tends to be younger people who don’t put their seatbelts on,” paramedic Maggie Chung said.

“I think some people think that nothing is ever going to happen to them. I guess it's that sense of invincibility a lot of younger people have.”

The crash features in the new season of Ambulance Australia premiering this Tuesday at 7.30pm on Network 10, with the series filmed across Sydney this summer.

Ebonie Wadwell, 18, suffered serious spinal injures. Picture: Channel 10

Madeleine Carter called triple-0 for help when her best friend was flung from the car. Picture: Channel 10

Two months on from the life-changing accident, Ms Wadwell is recovering from severe spinal injuries and both teens — friends since Year 7 — are receiving counselling.

“My family didn’t think I was going to survive so I’m very, very lucky,” Ms Wadwell, 18, said.

On a weekend camping trip, Ms Carter was sitting in the passenger seat when Ms Wadwell — a P-plate driver — lost control of her sedan on the dirt road, rolling several times.

Ebonie Wadwell suffered spinal injuries.

Ebonie while recovering at hospital.

Both girls say they always wear a seatbelt but they can’t explain why they didn’t that day.

“You know we were having fun on a weekend away and we just kind of got in the car to go pick up our friends and we just didn’t put a seatbelt on,” Ms Carter said.

Ms Wadwell, who has hardly any memory of the accident that put her in hospital for 10 days, said: “It still shocks me that I wasn’t wearing a seatbelt.

“I’ve always been really particular with seatbelts, especially with friends and family in the car.”

More than 8500 drivers and 6300 passengers were caught and fined by NSW Police last year for not wearing a seatbelt.

Madeleine Carter (left) and Ebonie Wadwell are both lucky to alive following the horrific car crash. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

Each year about 30 people are killed on the state’s roads who weren’t buckled in, and a further 220 are injured.

“There seems to be a complacency, particularly among young drivers, that they probably don’t see the importance or the value of actually wearing a seatbelt,” NSW Ambulance chief inspector Brian Parsell said.

“You become a missile in your own vehicle if you’re not restrained.

“I’d like to applaud the girls for coming forward because for them, talking about their story, it may hopefully educate other people about the importance of wearing a seatbelt.”

Now slowly getting back behind the wheel, Ms Wadwell was fined for negligent driving and not wearing a seatbelt and has one-point remaining on her licence.

Ms Carter said both have learned their lesson and are urging other young people to always strap in.

“Be very cautious and don’t take life for granted because it just took one split second and we lost control and nearly lost our lives,” she said.

Originally published as Teen girls survive horrific car crash after not wearing seat belts