A brave mother and her teenage daughters have confronted the man who changed the course of their lives forever after ploughing into their car while driving drunk.
Leanne Tyrrell-Raddatz and her daughters Lola and Phoebe, aged 15 and 18, were left traumatised after a horror car crash on February 6, 2021.
The trio had been driving in Buccan, in Logan, Queensland, when Bryce Print crossed into the wrong lane and collided with their vehicle head-on.
The tradesman, 35, had a blood alcohol concentration of 0.190 when he was tested by police who found empty beer bottles on the floor of his car.
Print last week pleaded guilty to one count of dangerous operation of a vehicle causing death or grievous bodily harm while affected by an intoxicating substance and one count of driving while under the influence of liquor.
On Tuesday, Print received a jail sentence of five years, suspended after 18 months, while his licence was disqualified for five months.
Leanne Tyrrell-Raddatz and her daughters Lola and Phoebe, aged 15 and 18, were left traumatised after a horror car crash on February 6, 2021
The trio had been driving in Buccan, in Logan, Queensland, when Bryce Print crossed into the wrong lane and collided with their vehicle head-on (pictured is Leanne’s car after the crash)
Ms Tyrell-Raddatz and her daughters were given the opportunity to speak directly to the pool finisher in Beenleigh District Court.
The women each read an emotional victim impact statements, each saying they would carry the trauma of the crash for the rest of their lives.
Lola, who had been just 13-years-old, said she was still recovering from the moment she looked at the drivers seat and thought her mother was dead, the Courier Mail reported.
‘My mum was pinned under the steering wheel, completely crushed. I believed my mum was dead,’ she said.
‘I lost my mum that day. How do I unsee that?’
The teenager said after hearing her sister cry out in pain and blood ‘pour’ out of her nose and mouth, she had been forced to grow up too quickly.
Her older sister Phoebe, who was 15-years-old at the time, told the court she feared her injuries could see her miss out on joining the military.
Phoebe, aged 18, fractured her femur and her wrist in the collision, undergoing four surgeries
Ms Tyrell-Raddatz endured more than triple the amount of operations her daughters did, undergoing 15 surgeries in total and spending four months in hospital
Ms Tyrrell-Raddatz (pictured) said after the moment of impact she ‘started floating to the white light on four occasions’ and heard the jaws of life beside her head
She fractured her femur and her wrist in the collision, undergoing four surgeries.
Their mother endured more than triple the amount of operations they did, undergoing 15 surgeries in total and spending four months in hospital.
Ms Tyrrell-Raddatz said after the moment of impact she ‘started floating to the white light on four occasions’ and heard the jaws of life beside her head.
‘I was slumped over the steering wheel with blood coming from my nose and mouth, I couldn’t breathe,’ she said in her statement.
‘In that exact moment I thought I was going to die. I thought this was it for me and I thought I was leaving this world and I’d never get to see my daughters grow up.
‘From that day forward my life has been hell.’
The mother-of-two said because of the pandemic, she had been alone in hospital and had suffered suicidal thoughts and ‘just wanted to die’.
Pictured is Phoebe and her mother before they went to pick up Lola from a birthday party, with the devastating crash occurring as they drove home on February 6, 2021
The mother-of-two said because of the pandemic, she had been alone in hospital and had suffered suicidal thoughts and ‘just wanted to die’
Two years on, She still feels the effects of the crash both physically and emotionally.
‘I can’t bend my knee completely, my arms are filled with metal, I have a broken pelvis, it affects my intimate life, my personal life, my working life,’ she said.
Ms Tyrrell-Raddatz said despite her family’s pain, she feels sorry for Price.
‘He is obviously suffering depression himself and has been struggling with alcoholism for a long time.’
‘But he chose to drink and drive that day and changed our lives forever.’
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Read more at DailyMail.co.uk