Community rushes to aid crash victims

SUPPORT has poured in for a Geelong West family that were victims of a horrific helicopter crash on the Gold Coast.

Generous donors from Geelong and beyond have contributed tens of thousands of dollars to support the family as the mother and son pair begin their road to recovery.

Winnie De Silva, 33, and her son Leon, nine, were both in stable conditions in Queensland hospitals this week from injuries sustained when their sightseeing chopper crashed into another while flying near Sea World on Monday last week.

Neil De Silva, who is the husband and step-father of the two local victims, set up a GoFundMe page in the wake of the disaster, to cover loss of work and support other family members’ relocation to Queensland while Winnie and Leon received treatment and underwent surgeries.

It had raised more than $66,000 early this week, more than tripling the original goal of $20,000. To donate, head to gofund.me/e69a2ad5

In a statement last Friday, Ms De Silva shared a positive update on her and her son’s conditions and said she was grateful for the well-wishes

“I want to thank people for their kind thoughts and healing prayers for Leon and me. They are helping me stay positive that Leon and I will get through this,” she said.

“Yesterday, I had a video call with Leon, and he gave me a ‘thumbs up’ and one of his big, beautiful smiles. Today he spoke two words, “my leg” which gives me hope that he is getting stronger each day. “With more surgery scheduled for me next week, my complete focus is on getting better so that within the next couple of weeks I can be with Leon and support his recovery.

“I can’t wait to hug my beautiful, brave boy.”

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau has launched an investigation into the crash, which is not expected to finish until the second half of next year.

A 10-year-old boy from Sydney involved in the crash was in a critical condition at the time of press.

Four people, including the boy’s mother, two international tourists and one of the helicopters’ pilot died in the incident.

– WITH AAP