An interstate couple involved in a serious crash south of Gilgandra say the community is in good care, thanks to the kindness of strangers and dedication of emergency service crews and hospital staff.
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Just three weeks ago, on October 11, Ruth and Ashley George were involved in a serious collision on the Newell Highway, about 25 kilometres south of Balladoran.
The couple - from Golden Grove, an outer north-eastern suburb of Adelaide - were on day two of their holiday to Brisbane when the serious crash occurred.
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One of the first on the scene was an unknown passer-by who, within moments after getting Mr George out of the vehicle, applied compression to Ms George's head to stop the bleeding.
"He was just talking to me, keeping me responsive and conscious, and looking after the head wound. Who he was I have no idea," Ms George told the Daily Liberal.
But during the frightening experience, Ms George said she couldn't be more grateful to all emergency service workers who guided her the entire time, particularly when crews worked to free her from her vehicle.
"The SES crews were cutting the car and forever saying there's going to be a noise, there's going to be a pop, there was nothing to take me by surprise," she said.
"If they were going to make a loud noise I had full warning. That's considerate."
Fortunately an empty NSW Ambulance was heading back to Gilgandra, which arrived on the scene within five minutes.
The care didn't stop there.
Ms George said while at the Dubbo hospital whether she was in radiology, surgery or the general ward "everybody was just lovely".
"We're country people we used to live in rural South Australia, and the facilities Dubbo has got compared to what we experienced growing up, there's no comparison," she said.
"You've got such a well equipped hospital there, but it doesn't matter how well equipped the hospital is, its the staff that make the experience.
"We were always kept in the loop, we had a fair idea of what was going on, and people were just so kind."
Two other occupants of a second Toyota Landcruiser, a 74-year-old man and a 72-year-old passenger from Victoria also escaped without injury.
While Ms George will remain in a neck brace until Christmas, and is supporting a broken sternum, rib, and five fractures in her spine that luckily hasn't affected her spinal cord, she wanted the community to know how much they appreciated the Dubbo and Gilgandra emergence service and health care workers.
"When we stopped rolling [in our vehicle] my first comment to my husband, I said 'Ashley are you alright?', and he answered and that's all that mattered," Ms George said.
"The accident was not good, but the outcome for us, yes we've written our ute off well bad luck, but we're still alive, we're back with our family, we've been well loved, and have been well cared for."
Even three weeks after the crash, Ms George was grateful for the follow up response from emergency service workers to see how she was recovering.
"The emergency response was just fantastic," Ms George told the Daily Liberal.
"At the accident scene passers-by, police, Ambulance, SES, vehicle retrieval people, all swung into gear with professionalism, kindness and care. People giving time and effort to help us when we could not help ourselves.
"We feel overwhelmed by kindness. Thank you is never enough, but the carers of the Dubbo community we say thank you, you are a credit to your community."
Zaarkacha Marlan
Court and crime reporter at the Daily Liberal. Formerly the sole journalist for the Nyngan Observer, Narromine News and Trangie Advocate.
Court and crime reporter at the Daily Liberal. Formerly the sole journalist for the Nyngan Observer, Narromine News and Trangie Advocate.
