Rollover a 'horrific' scene
An off-duty paramedic first on the scene of a two-vehicle rollover has described the eerie silence that confronted him as he rushed to help those involved.
On the afternoon of Sunday, January 25, Paul Spinks was travelling along Wilson Street towards South Hedland when a single cab Hilux ute overtook him at speed.
As he watched the vehicle drift onto the wrong side of the road, it occurred to Mr Spinks that the driver was most probably drunk, and "not just speeding like a lunatic".
"I'd have estimated that he had been doing everything of close to 140km/h to 150km/h," he said.
"He went right over onto the wrong side of the road."
A specialist paramedic from Queensland with more than 10 years experience, Mr Spinks just knew there was going to be a car crash.
"It was a premonition that I was going to witness something horrific," he said.
Mr Spinks watched as the premonition unfolded before his eyes - the driver of the single cab rear-ended a dual cab at speed.
"He didn't judge his swerve out to pass the car ... and sent the car into a spin," he said.
"He lost control, it span and it went off down the 2m ditch."
Mr Spinks pulled up as both vehicles rolled numerous times in the embankment adjacent to Wilson Street.
Jumping out of his vehicle to help, he heard nothing, no sound from either cab.
To Mr Spinks' surprise, he established that all three trapped people were alive and only appeared to have minor injuries.
"I was just amazed," he said.
Now, several weeks after the accident, Mr Spinks has urged people to take care on the roads, because the physical and mental effects could be devastating.
The driver of the single cab returned a blood alcohol reading of 0.173, and has been charged with one count of driving under the influence, and one count of dangerous driving.
