“And I just went for the little boy and held him, and I had to get in the ambulance with him because he wouldn’t let go of me.”
As the boy clung tightly to her, Jean did her best to shield him from the tragic sight of his two relatives, believed to be his grandparents, lying nearby.
Tracey Jean visiting the scene of the crash on Friday with her partner Paul Alford.Credit: Luis Enrique Ascui
Speaking through tears, Jean said she found the boy standing under a tree with his bottle and stroller strewn across a neighbouring home’s front yard.
Jean had to notify emergency services that the two-year-old was also involved in the crash and needed medical attention.
“He just kept saying, ‘car, car, car’, and then he wrapped his arms around my neck and just wouldn’t let me go,” she said.
“I held on to him as much as I could and just cuddled him. I just kept him blocked from watching what was going on.”
Heather Webber was the first on the scene of the crash on Thursday. Credit: Justin McManus
Jean said she hoped to be given the chance to one day be able to reunite with the boy.
Earlier on Friday, Heather Webber described the devastating scene unfolding directly outside her home on Thursday afternoon.
Her husband, Gary, immediately called an ambulance, while Heather rushed to help the 60-year-old man who was lying on his back, bleeding and struggling to breathe.
At that moment, Heather was yet to see the 59-year-old woman lying further behind, or the two-year-old boy who was metres from the two adults.
“I didn’t know what was happening,” Heather said. “I looked around to see who had knocked [the man] or hit him, because I didn’t know what to do, and he was just lying there.
“Then the ambulance came in, and they took over. And then we realised that the woman was here.”
Heather initially thought the man could have had a medical episode, as there was no sign of the Toyota Yaris that struck the trio after it mounted the footpath some 50 metres away.
About midday on Friday, an unmarked police car was seen retracing the woman’s route along Coleman Road, using a bonnet-mounted camera to record.
Heather said the toddler was crying before Jean held him. “One of the ladies picked him up, and he just hung on to her,” she said.
She recalled seeing the injured boy’s orange lollies scattered along the footpath. She said it was a miracle no other children were injured, given the vehicle ploughed into the playground.
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“I just can’t believe it’s happened,” Heather said.
At the scene on Friday morning, local father Simon Wong visited the site of the crash with his children, Erica and Torres, to lay a bouquet of flowers on the footpath where the family had been hit.
“We just feel shocked and very sad that this accident happened,” he said.
Wong said the floral tribute was a way for the community to show solidarity and compassion in the face of tragedy.
“As a father of two, we don’t want these things [to] happen,” he said.“We hope for the safety of the community here. It’s really sad for the family. We just want to bring some love to them.”
Among those laying flowers was Gary Leech, the club coach at Knox City Tennis Club, located next to the playground. He said he had lived in the area for 35 years and wanted to pay his respects to the woman who died and her family.
Locals Simon Wong and his children Erica and Torres place a flower tribute at the scene.Credit: Justin McManus
Leech said he arrived at the scene about 10 minutes after the car hit the three victims and crashed through the playground fence – a barrier that he says has previously been hit by vehicles on three separate occasions.
“I know all of us in the community are devastated because we all walk down here every day,” he said.
Vision obtained by The Age appeared to show the car involved in the crash.
The CCTV footage from a house on Coleman Road shows a silver hatchback travelling on the north side of the road, with a hubcap believed to be from the front left wheel seen rolling after it.
The footage also shows what appears to be a family walking with a pram in the opposite direction just before the time of the accident. The Age is yet to confirm whether the people in the video were involved in the accident. Witnesses saw a crushed pram at the scene in the aftermath of the crash.
With Grant McArthur and Alexander Darling
Anyone who witnessed the incident, has dashcam footage or any other information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or submit a confidential report online at www.crimestoppersvic.com.au.
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