There’s little doubt that Christopher Condon Jnr is lucky to be alive.
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The two former schoolmates he was in a car with when it crashed on Old Dubbo Road last Saturday fit into the same category.
But thankfully this is a tale that, after a lengthy recovery process, will have a happy ending.
A spokesperson from Mr Condon’s family contacted the Daily Liberal this week to give an update on his condition, admitting there was a time when they feared the worst.
The 19-year-old was in the back passenger’s seat of the vehicle when it left Old Dubbo Road, collided with a tree and then a metal post on the side of the road.
While the driver of the vehicle escaped without any serious injuries, the front seat passenger was airlifted from the scene while Mr Condon was taken from Dubbo Hospital to Westmead Hospital by helicopter several hours later.
“Thankfully all of the boys are going to be fine,” the family spokesperson said.
“The young man in the front passenger seat had some surgery on some lacerations, and the driver was fine.
“We’ve had a lot of calls about Chris Jnr’s condition so we wanted to put it out there publicly what he has gone through to avoid any confusion.”
When you hear the magnitude of the injuries, you get a full appreciation of how lucky the young man is to be alive.
With his family to support him he will have an extended stay in hospital, but things could easily have ended much worse.
“He’s got nine skull fractures, and two neck fractures,” the spokesperson said.
“He also had a collapsed lung and was on life support in an induced coma until Monday night when we were thankfully able to turn the machine off and he was able to breath on his own.
“He has been transferred from the intensive care unit to the head trauma unit, but when he woke up he recognised us and gave a thumbs up.
“His long-term memory is fine. He remembered that he supports St George in the football but his short-term memory is all over the place.”
Mr Condon is expected to be in hospital for anywhere from two weeks to a month, and he will be in a neck brace for at least three months.
And the family is hoping to use its lucky tale to warn others of what can happen.
“It’s going to take time for Chris Jnr to recover, but the only thing that will heal his injuries is time and patience,” the spokesperson said.
“He’s probably the luckiest kid in the world that he’s been able to survive this, and his mates are lucky as well.
“All of the boys went to school together at St Ignatius College, Riverview, and hopefully we’ll be able to use some of these pictures we’ve got and the story of what happened as a reminder to students there, and at all other schools, of what can happen.
“We’re lucky. We’ll get to take him home but other people don’t get that chance.”
Investigations into the cause of the accident are continuing.
Orana Local Area Command investigations manager Detective Sergeant Mark Meredith said rain on Friday and Saturday had altered the condition of the road.
“There’s no indication at this stage that speed was a factor, and we’re still waiting for results of the mandatory blood and urine tests,” he said.
“We’re investigating all of the circumstances, and that includes the weather and road conditions at the time because there had been some rain in the hours leading up to the accident.”