A group of teenagers who were on a schoolies trip narrowly escaped with their lives after a tree branch speared through the windscreen of their car.
The terrifying moment happened near Lake McKenzie on K’gari (formerly Fraser Island) off the coast of Central Queensland, last Wednesday afternoon.
The group of four girls were heading back to their resort at Eurong, a 40-minute drive east of Lake McKenzie, when the massive branch crashed into the vehicle’s windscreen and plunged into the headrest of the front passenger seat.
Fortunately, the passenger in the front seat managed to get out of the way when the tree branch crashed into the vehicle and speared through the head rest of the front passenger seat
Shocking photos showed part of the windscreen crushed by the branch
Shocking photos showed part of the windscreen crushed by the branch before it went through the head rest.
Fortunately, the girl who was sitting in the seat at the time managed to get out of the way before the branch ploughed through into the back seat.
Thankfully, no one was sitting at the back at the time of the crash.
The girls were staying at Rainbow Beach during the trip and wanted to venture out and explore K’gari before they ran into trouble.
Rescuers from youth group Red Frogs were alerted to the crash and rushed to the scene to help the schoolies after their car was struck.
Red Frogs CEO Andrew Gourley told Daily Mail the branch had fallen onto the dirt road the night before during a storm.
He said two Red Frog teams were on the island for schoolies celebrations and happened to be in the area doing a patrol at the time and rushed to help the girls who had driven straight into the branch.
‘Our teams were out there…on [a] campsite…and the Red Frogs truck came around… helped the girls,’ Mr Gourley said.
‘[Then] the rangers came, they got the tractor to pull the branch out.’
‘It was a real miracle that no one was injured.’
No one was injured in the shocking accident during the schoolies trip to K’gari Island
Mr Gourley said the Red Frogs crew drove the car back to Eurong despite the damage the vehicle sustained.
The girls were later driven back to a resort in the town after they were offered a place to stay the night.
Mr Gourley said paramedics assessed the girls before they spent the night with members of the youth group at the resort.
A member of one of the girl’s family took the teens back to Rainbow Beach on Thursday.
Schoolies kicked off last week as thousands of school leavers marked the end of Year 12 with parties and festivals well underway on the Gold Coast.
Schoolies for 2023 ends on December 3.