Granddad saves lives in caravan crash

14th July 2009

THE lives of Murrary Waters' grandchildren were on his mind when he gripped the steering wheel of his 4WD and tried to correct the path of his out-of-control caravan.

The Kumbia family's holiday almot ended in tragedy when the vehicle and caravan rolled near Kilkivan about 3.50pm last Thursday.

Disaster struck the Waters family as their Pajero navigated a downhill section of the Burnett Highway just east of Cinnibar.

When the vehicle hit a bumpy section of road at 90kmh, the tow hitch unlatched from the tow ball and the caravan began to swing violently from its safety chain.

"It completely ripped out and swung from side to side like a pendulum," Mr Waters said.

His wife Margaret and a friend watched in horror from a vehicle behind as Mr Waters tried to correct the 4WD's wayward path.

"It was a micracle there were no oncoming cars because our vehicle was swerving over both sides of the road," he said.

The fate of Mr Waters, his friend, four grandchildren and two dogs was in jeopardy as he wrestled to bring the two-tonne caravan under control.

"It's split-second stuff, if you make one wrong move you're dead."

When Mr Waters saw an approaching gum tree off the shoulder of the road he dropped back to second gear and locked the steering wheel.

As the car careered on the shoulder of the highway the caravan jack-knifed to the right, became airborne and rolled.

The car also flipped and dragged the upside-down caravan along the bitumen before screeching to a halt as it crashed into an old stump.

"Everyone in the car was dead silent so I feared the worst," he said.

It rested on the stump precariously, only inches away from trees Mr Waters believes would have killed the vehicle's occupants.

"We had a full tank of fuel onboard and I knew she easily could have gone up in flames," he said.

The doors were all jammed by the impact of the crash so he crawled inside to open the rear window and drag his grandchildren to safety.

The passenger side of the vehicle had been crushed to the height of the car seats and his friend was pinned by the roof.

Mr Waters untangled him from the wreckage and saw his friend's hat stuck in the crumpled roof.

"If the front of the car had of collapsed in any way further he wouldn't have walked away," Mr Waters said.

Police directed traffic around the accident and an off-duty paramedic pulled over an assessed the six occupants of the vehicle.

They had walked from the wreckage with only a few minor scrapes and bruises.

"It's an absolute miracle we're here today," Mr Waters said.