A Sea World helicopter crash survivor has spoken out about her continuing pain, distress and regret almost a year on from the January 2, 2023 disaster.
While Winnie De Silva and her son Leon, 9, try to get on with their lives, a report and never-seen-before footage of what happened is about to be released.
Four people died and nine others were injured, with the survivors bearing much more than just physical scars from that fateful day.
The helicopter Ms De Silva and Leon – who suffered a brain injury – were on collided with another shortly after taking off from the resort, changing their lives forever.
‘Just the thought of it, just the thought of death. That or how we survived – it’s been really hard and emotionally damaging for both myself and Leon,’ she told 7News.
Sea World helicopter crash survivor Winnie De Silva (pictured with her son Leon) has spoken out about her continuing pain and distress almost a year on from the January 2, 2023 disaster
While Ms De Silva’s physical recovery continues – she had shoulder surgery just days ago and has constant leg pain – for Leon the trauma is more psychological.
‘Leon is not alright psychologically. He gets very emotional,’ she said. ‘He feels it in himself. He knows that he’s changed.’
The guilt of what was meant to be a once-in-a-lifetime experience also haunts Ms De Silva.
‘Leon did not want to do that helicopter ride,’ she said.
‘I wish I never did because it was a five or 10-minute ride. But two minutes later, our life change dramatically.
‘What I remember is the bang and then things falling on our faces and then the air and then the crashing.’
The mum said the situation felt hopeless as it was completely out of her control.
‘We are in the air. I have no other escape. Where do I go to from here? So I surrendered everything and I said, “let what will be, happen” and I was just … I was horrified.’
Ms De Silva thought that she and Leon were both going to die.
‘How we survived … a miracle. Angels came and protected us at that time,’ she said.
The one-year anniversary on Tuesday will be another traumatic day in a year that has already brought so many awful days.
But she hopes upcoming report by the n Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) into the crash will provide some answers.
Though the full report is not due for several months yet, an interim report is due to be released next week.
‘The question is, what really happened? I would like them to answer me that question,’ she said.
‘That should never happen again. Or it should not have happened in the first place.’
A image of shattered glass flying through a helicopter that had just crashed into another helicopter on the Gold Coast on January 2, 2023 is pictured
The wreckage of one of the crashed helicopters is pictured on the Gold Coast on January 2
The ATSB has done hundreds of hours of analysis and interviews with more than 80 witnesses including survivors.
The bureau looked at video footage taken from victims’ mobile phones which were found by police divers and they have also been using 3D computer technology to recreate what happened.
In a previous summary released last March, there were suggestions the two pilots may have been ‘flying blind’ and that there had been no communication with each other in the lead-up to the tragedy.
After the full ATSB report is handed down, there will be a coronial inquest.
Rescue workers are pictured at the scene of a helicopter crash near Sea World on the Gold Coast
The two helicopters that crashed into each other on January 2 at Sea World are pictured