CNA – A 10-year-old Australian boy remained in a coma yesterday following a collision earlier this week between the two helicopters that killed four people, including the boy’s mother.
Meanwhile, another boy, aged nine, who was hospitalised in critical condition after the crash awoke on Thursday after suffering brain trauma, according to health authorities.
The nine-year-old boy’s mother remained hospitalised in stable condition.
Another three people who were injured in the collision were discharged from hospitals on Thursday, according to Queensland Health.
Police said one helicopter was taking off and the other landing when they collided on Monday afternoon near the Sea World theme park on Queensland state’s Gold Coast.
A pilot, two British visitors and the 10-year-old boy’s mother Vanessa Tadros, 36, were killed when the helicopter they were aboard plunged to the ground after its rotor blades sheared off. Those most seriously injured were also aboard that helicopter.
The pilot of the second helicopter managed to land safely on a sandy outcrop despite the aircraft suffering significant damage, authorities said.
Queensland Health said 10-year-old Nicholas Tadros from Sydney remained in critical condition. A family relative told News Corp the boy’s latest surgery to stop internal bleeding had been successful.
Earlier this week, the boy’s father Simon Tadros wrote on social media that his son was in an induced coma and hooked up to a life support machine to help him breathe.
“He is in a very serious and critical state. I’m asking for all your prayers to bring my little man back to me,” Simon Tadros wrote.
Health authorities said nine-year-old Leon de Silva had awoken in Brisbane Children’s Hospital on Thursday morning. His mother Winnie, 33, was also awake and in a stable condition with two broken legs, a damaged left knee, broken right shoulder and broken collarbone.
Also killed in the crash were pilot Ashley Jenkinson, 40, and British tourists Ron Hughes, 65, and Diane Hughes, 57.
