On May 1 this year, Chloe’s life was turned upside down when a boat she was in with 14 of her friends collided with a lobster boat near Bradley’s Head about 2.45am on Thursday May 1 killing four women and a man.

Chloe sustained a fractured neck and back and a broken collar bone from the crash, but this week she had her neck and back brace taken off.

Chloe is the 18-year-old daughter of Dubbo’s Volunteer Rescue Association’s captain David Dickey who was with Chloe just hours after the tragedy.

“When I got the call about the accident I was shocked and horrified,” Mr Dickey said.

“My partner and I left almost immediately for Sydney,” he said.

Chloe spent four days in hospital after the crash recovering from her injuries and mourning the loss of her friends.

“Emotionally Chloe has a long way to go but she is coping reasonably well for a kid of her age,” Mr Dickey said.

Chloe remained in Sydney after the tragedy to be with her sister and her friends.

“After the crash I just wanted to wrap her up in cotton wool and bring her home to Dubbo,” Mr Dickey said. “But after I saw how she was with her mates and her sister I knew it was best for her to stay there with them,” he said.

Mr Dickey describes his daughter as strong and independent.

He said that even during her time in hospital she kept her spirits up.

“The feeling at the hospital was quite sombre,” Mr Dickey said. “Chloe was coping ok and she was in high spirits, but she did have those quiet times as you could expect,” he said.

Mr Dickey said Chloe hasn’t spoken much about what happened on the boat at the time of the crash and said he didn’t want to ask too many questions in the fear it would bring on the same hurt and emotion she went through on that night.

“The police have interviewed her several times already and that has been hard enough on her,” he said.

For now Chloe is continuing on with life and undertaking physiotherapy to strengthen her neck and back.

Investigations into the crash continue.

anna.yeo@ruralpress.com