Mum's frantic search for girl, 2, crushed by debris after car crashes into family home
A mother has described her frantic search for her two-year-old daughter after a car crashed through their bedroom wall, covering them in piles of rubble.
It was 3:30am on Saturday when an out-of-control car drove down Lake Avenue in Cringila, a suburb of Wollongong, colliding with the bedroom where Ainsley Lennard, 24, and her toddler, Lyla, were sleeping.
“I stood up and everything was on top of her and I just searched through everything,” Ms Lennard told 9News.
An out-of-control car has sent a wall crashing down on top of a young woman and her 2-year-old daughter. The toddler was buried in rubble of the family home, as her mother fumbled in the dark to save her daughter. @tiffgenders #9News pic.twitter.com/rjBf8lIJKj
— Nine News Sydney (@9NewsSyd) August 24, 2019
As she shook and held back tears, Ms Lennard relived the moment she searched through the wreckage for her daughter.
“I found her and I just dragged her out... I’m so lucky to find her alive,” she said.
The driver and passenger of the car escaped as the vehicle caught on fire and Ms Lennard said the driver begged her not to call the police.
“They met me at the front door and said: ‘Please don’t call anyone, I’ll pay you anything you want’,” Ms Lennard told 9News.
Ms Lennard, whose husband Gary was in Sydney for a buck’s party, said she told them to “get out of my face”.
The driver’s reason to avoid police was revealed when he was found to have a disqualified license.
Chief Inspector Brian Pedersen told 9News police were investigating speed as a factor in the incident, but the driver should not have been behind the wheel.
He said it was fortunate no one had been seriously injured during the incident.
The family are now homeless after asbestos was found in their home, which was their first.
A GoFundMe page has been set up by friend to help the young family get back on their feet as contamination means they can’t return to their home or collect their belongings.
The driver has been charged with disqualified and negligent driving, and will face Port Kembla Local Court on September 25.
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