'We are broken right now': Family crushed by tree while camping reveal trauma
A young family seriously injured when a huge tree crushed their tent while they were asleep, have shared the trauma of the freak accident that put their baby in intensive care and killed their dog.
Max and Brenda Robin and their three-month-old baby girl suffered serious injuries when a six metre pine tree fell on their tent at the popular Nanga Mills campsite in Lane Poole Reserve, near Dwellingup in WA.
They were asleep in the early hours of Sunday morning when tragedy struck.
The tree hit the ground so hard it shattered into pieces.
“The past couple of days we have faced the biggest challenge of our lives,” the family wrote on a GoFundMe page set up to help with medical expenses.
“What we thought was going to be an easy move back to the west, ended up being a traumatic tragedy.
“We are broken right now, both physically and emotionally.”
Hours before the tragedy, the Robins were celebrating their nephew’s first birthday at the camping grounds with family, having a wonderful time as their dogs and children played by the river.
“Things turned south when night [fell]. A big tree of more than 6 meters tall fell in the middle of our tent while we were sleeping,” they wrote.
Mr and Mrs Robin’s daughter is currently being treated in the ICU at Perth Children’s Hospital, and they say she is “stable and making progress”.
“Our daughter will need 24 hour monitoring, for at least a month, which we won’t be able to provide on our own,” the couple wrote.
While one of the family dogs Corona reacted in time and leaped out of the way when the tree fell, sadly their other pooch Mila took most of the impact and was killed.
The couple’s serious injuries will prevent them from working for a while, delaying Ms Robin’s plans to return from maternity leave next month.
Her husband’s leg was crushed, according to witnesses, setting him back from starting the new job he was due to commence next week.
“As many of you know, we were full of dreams and hopes for this move back to the west. Those dreams now feel broken and almost impossible to reach,” the couple wrote.
They were discharged from hospital on Monday to be with their baby, despite their injuries.
Authorities are still trying to work out what caused the pine tree to topple, but heavy rain and strong winds were recorded the day before.
