A boy who suffered catastrophic injuries after being hit by a car says he was trying to save his three-year-old brother.
“I was acting like a big brother to my little brother, I pushed him away so he wouldn’t get hurt like me,” Huseyin Pek, 8, told his mother after the accident.
The driver, Thanh Ngoc Vo, had arrived in Australia five days before the September 2023 crash and was practising driving around the block in his wife’s car when he hit the accelerator instead of the brake.
The 49-year-old unlicensed driver hit the young children, who were playing in a puddle behind their grandparents’ home in Braybrook, an inner-city suburb of Melbourne.
Huseyin was seriously injured and has undergone several surgeries but may never walk properly again, while his younger brother Burak Pek suffered minor injuries.
The boys’ family said they were relieved that “justice has been done in our favour” after Vo admitted dangerous driving causing serious injury and was jailed on Wednesday.
“I’m still angry, but I came here for my son and I will be here for him at our next court date,” Huseyin’s mother, Demet Aydin, said outside the County Court.
“I don’t accept that he regrets what he did to my son.”
Huseyin and Burek Pek were playing behind their grandparents’ house when they were hit by a car.
Thanh Ngoc Vo (right) had arrived in Australia five days before the September 2023 accident and was practising driving in his wife’s car when he stepped on the accelerator instead of the brake.
Inside the court, a harrowing statement was read out from Ms Aydin, where she described how she heard the bang and feared the worst.
“Everything went silent, in slow motion… all I could hear was accelerations and bang, bang, bang,” he said.
“I thought Huseyin must be dead.”
Vo was entering the lane when he accidentally stepped on the accelerator instead of the brake of the Toyota Prado, he told police.
He pressed the accelerator even harder before crashing into the two children and three parked cars.
Vo ran from the scene to his home, near the accident site.
When police arrived shortly after, Vo fell to his knees in a prayer position and was arrested.
Huseyin’s numerous injuries were described as “catastrophic” by prosecutors and required emergency surgery and nearly two months in hospital.
He suffered fractures and deep cuts to his head, including a 20-centimetre wound from his left eyebrow to the middle of his head.
“I can’t look at his face because I’m crying,” Aydin said.
She said Huseyin was once “the happiest child” but his leg injuries mean he may never walk properly again.
“He wants me to give him a time frame for when things will be back to normal, but I can’t,” she said.
“I don’t know what the future holds for him. He may never be able to walk properly again.”
Thanh Ngoc Vo fled the scene, near where he hit the two boys. (HANDOUT/VICTORIA COUNTY COURT)
Ms Aydin had hoped Vo would receive a long prison sentence and be deported to Vietnam after serving it.
“Does this man not feel remorse? Doesn’t he think he should have helped my son?” she said.
Judge Duncan Allen thanked Ms Aydin for her “moving and tragic” description of what had happened to her son.
“It’s definitely the most painful thing I’ve ever had to do,” he said.
“The impact of what happened that day, and Mr Vo’s driving, has been truly devastating in many ways.”
Demet Aydin is angry for her children after they were hit by a car in Melbourne’s suburbs
Huseyin’s numerous injuries were described as “catastrophic” by prosecutors and required emergency surgery and nearly two months in hospital.
Defence lawyer Zoe Broughton asked for Vo to be assessed for a community service order, but accepted he would serve some time in prison for the tragedy.
“I don’t think I can easily stand here and ask Your Honor to prevent any loss of liberty,” he said.
The hearing was adjourned until October 28 and Vo, who was out on bail, was taken to prison.