Friend of man seriously injured in crash with driver on Snapchat issues emotional plea
A close friend of the man who was nearly killed in a horrific head-on collision has issued a stern message to the girls in the vehicle that veered into his path on the weekend.
Dennis Sales remains in a serious condition after a Suzuki Baleno being driven by Shania McNeill, 21, collided with the car he was travelling in on Richmond Road, Berkshire Park in Sydney’s west, about 1.15am on Sunday morning.
He had earlier finished a gig at Riverstone RSL with his band and was travelling home in a Nissan Micra driven by band mate Ken Morrow, when the Suzuki Baleno collided with them.
The 21-year-old driver of the Suzuki, Ms McNeill, was killed, and her two friends, along with with Mr Sales and Mr Morrow, were transported to hospital.
A Snapchat video, obtained by The Daily Telegraph, shot just before the crash showed a woman believed to be Ms McNeill behind the wheel of a car.
She faced the camera as a passenger screamed, “Shania”, before she turned her attention back to the road.
Close family friend of Mr Sales, John O’Hara, told Yahoo News Australia he hoped the surviving girls would have a serious think about using devices behind the wheel.
“Just have a good think about what you’re doing and what the consequences might be for other people,” Mr O’Hara said.
“It’s pretty clear what the consequences have been for us, I just absolutely hope that they’ve learnt something by this, and that another family never has to go through this again.”
No recollection of the accident
Mr O’Hara said his best mate, who he regarded a brother, was relying on assistance to breathe and had no way of communicating aside from using hand signals.
During visits from his family, Mr Sales used his hands to make a love heart shape to express his love for them, but was still grappling with understanding what happened, Mr O’Hara said.
“He sort of looked at me, shrugged his shoulders and lifted his hand up and said ‘what happened?’, he has no recollection of the accident.”
“He’s the kind of guy that puts life into other people, and to see him lying there it’s devastating,” Mr O’Hara said.
“I’ve been best mates with him for 26 years. He’s more like a brother. We’ve always been there for each other.”
Mr O’Hara established a Go Fund Me page for Mr Sales and Mr Morrow to help with the financial strain placed on the family in the wake of the accident.
He said despite there being a lot of anger over the circumstances surrounding the crash, Mr Sales’ family held no malice towards the parents of Ms McNeil.
He received a message from the woman’s father saying he was “very sorry for what’s happened”, and conceding that “Dennis and Kenny are innocent victims”.
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