Two brave young people helped save their parents after a terrifying outback accident on Australia Day.
Charles and Mary-Lou McGregor-Shaw were driving two of their three children, Stirling, 16, and Willard, 11, to the Shady Camp fishing spot in the Northern Territory when their car was hit head-on by another vehicle on a wide bend in Arnhem. Road.
In the monsoon rain, Stirling and Willard ignored their own injuries to help their seriously injured parents at the crash site, about an hour’s drive southeast of Darwin.
The isolated crash site meant there was a considerable delay before emergency services could free Charles and Mary-Lou.
Rescuers also freed the driver of the other vehicle and the five injured people were rushed to the Royal Darwin Hospital ICU.
Mary-Lou suffered severe head trauma and underwent two life-saving emergency surgeries within the first 24 hours.
Charles suffered multiple bone fractures, including spinal injuries in his neck and back, which surgeons worked to stabilize.
A devastating head-on highway crash has devastated the lives of the McGregor-Shaw family (pictured, left to right, Stirling, Mary-Lou, Charles, Willard and George in front).
Meanwhile, Willard underwent surgery to repair a torn intestine and Stirling underwent surgeries on his broken leg and shoulder.
Mary-Lou was placed in a coma with a severe brain injury and, along with Charles, were flown to Perth for specialist care.
The couple’s middle son, George, who had been on vacation interstate, flew home to await news with his grandparents and extended family.
TO GoFundMe page has been created by Jo Brosnan to help the family and in particular grandparents Maureen and William O’Keeffe who moved from Katherine in the central Northern Territory to Darwin to care for the children at home .
“Financial support is needed to support the children’s grandparents, Maureen and Bill O’Keeffe, who are covering the costs of caring for three teenage children while their parents are incapacitated,” Ms Brosnan wrote.
“Family members are pitching in to ensure Charles and Mary-Lou’s bills are paid and their Darwin home and pets are looked after.”
Mary-Lou and her three sons George, Willard and Stirling on a fishing trip to the Northern Territory
Incredibly, the page reached its initial $30,000 in donations in just four hours and after just one day it almost reached the new goal of $150,000.
Ms Brosnan says the McGregor-Shaws are a “loved, humble and community-spirited family” where Charles helps crew and train CareFlight rescue helicopter staff.
“He helps save lives every day, caring for people in their most vulnerable moments of fear and trauma,” he writes.
The McGregor-Shaws are described as “passionate about family, rugby league, fishing, motorbikes, birds, orchards, dogs and friends”.
“They are most notable for the time they spend volunteering at sports, schools and fundraising events,” according to the fundraising page.
“Mary-Lou is a former CWA champion, a volunteer breastfeeding counselor, a soccer team manager (and a die-hard Cowboys supporter), Chuck has been the soccer club’s doctor and they both support the coaches in everything.” that they can.”
In an update, the page urged donors to ‘keep going; We don’t know how long it will take for the children’s parents to recover, but we do know it will be many, many months.’