Much-loved baby dies in crash
The grandmother of a four-week-old baby boy killed in a car accident near Collie on Saturday night has pleaded for the public not to judge the little boy's mother.
The crash is the second road fatality in WA during the holiday period and brings the national road toll to nine.
Robert Hillam was restrained in the back seat of a family member's white Nissan Patrol travelling on River Road in Worsley about 7.45pm when the four-wheel-drive veered off the road, down an embankment and into a tree.
Robert's grandmother Rosemary said the little boy's mother, who was in the front passenger seat, heard him choking on what was thought to be his own vomit and tried to save him.
"It is a tragic family accident, they were away on holidays and apparently the baby starting choking, (the boy's mother) took her seatbelt off, slid across and actually released his seatbelt," Rosemary said.
"She's not sure what happened but all hell cut loose and we're not sure how the car ended up how it ended up."
Robert and his 24-year-old mother were taken to Bunbury Regional Hospital where the baby later died.
The 31-year-old female driver of the car, a relative of Robert, had minor injuries and was treated at the scene.
Robert's mother also had minor injuries and was released on Saturday night.
Born on November 29, Robert was his parents' only child.
"He was happy, even though he was only a month old, he always seemed to try and take in everything around him," Rosemary said.
"Both Robert's mother and father are totally devastated.
"We were driving back from Bunbury with her last night and she said to me, 'I keep waiting for him to cry'."
The baby's grandmother said online speculation about why Robert was taken out of his restraint had placed the family in even more distress.
"Maybe they shouldn't be so judgmental without knowing the circumstances," she said.
Det-Sgt Jim Giorgi from the major crash squad said they were investigating the circumstances of how the accident happened and where the child was at the time of the crash.
Children under six months are required by law to be placed in a rearward facing restraint while in a vehicle.
Police Minister Liza Harvey said it was important for children and adults alike to be restrained while driving, with close to a quarter of all fatal and serious crashes involving people failing to wear seat- belts.
