Driver is consoled by paramedics after he allegedly lost control of his car killing a mum-of-three

An 89-year-old driver who allegedly lost control of his car and killed a mother-of-three was comforted by paramedics while shocked witnesses called for older people to be banned from driving.

The woman, 40, was sitting outside Si:Zac cafe with her friends when a Holden Commodore smashed into them in North Epping, in Sydney’s north west, just before 10.15am on Friday.

Nine others were injured after the 89-year-old’s car ploughed into the mothers’ group, who were having coffee after dropping their kids off at Epping North Public School.

Witnesses said the mother was pinned to a brick wall and suffered critical injuries to her abdomen. She was rushed to Royal North Shore Hospital but died a a short time later. 

The elderly driver, known only as ‘Keith,’ was seen being comforted by emergency workers and bystanders at the scene while police assessed the crashed car

'Keith' was seen chatting to police at the scene, after allegedly losing control of his car, killing a mother-of-three

‘Keith’ was seen chatting to police at the scene, after allegedly losing control of his car, killing a mother-of-three 

Police assessed the crashed car and chatted to witnesses on Friday at North Epping

Police assessed the crashed car and chatted to witnesses on Friday at North Epping 

The elderly driver, known only as ‘Keith,’ was seen being comforted by emergency workers and bystanders at the scene while police assessed the crashed car.

It is understood the elderly driver was attempting to park in a disabled spot when he accelerated forward, smashing over a wall, through a garden bed and hitting the group of mothers who were sitting at a table. 

Meanwhile, shocked witnesses called for older drivers to be banned from getting behind the wheel.

Baker Sath Thep, from nearby Marcos Hot Bread store, and local newsagent Peter Yaang said Keith was well-known in the North Epping community.

‘He’s an old man and everyone knows him around here. He’s a nice man too,’ Mr Yaang told Daily Mail Australia. 

Floral tributes are seen outside the cafre where a 40-year-old woman was killed when a car ploughed into the front of the cafe, in North Epping

Floral tributes are seen outside the cafre where a 40-year-old woman was killed when a car ploughed into the front of the cafe, in North Epping

People gather outside the cafe where a 40-year-old woman was killed

People gather outside the cafe where a 40-year-old woman was killed

Butcher Ryan Nicholls of Uppercuts Butchery, which is near the cafe where the tragedy happened, said the driver was a regular at the shopping complex. 

‘He’s a beautiful old man and he’s been through a tough time. Last year, his wife was put in a local nursing home and he always visited her before she passed away a couple months ago,’ he told Daily Mail Australia. 

‘He still comes in every week. Everyone knows Keith as a gentlemen, a good bloke you know.

‘Every Christmas, he buys these little watermelons and he hands them out to people with Christmas cards. That’s Keith’s little thing, he gives everyone a watermelon.’

‘Everyone knows Keith, he’s always coming in the shop,’ Mr Nicholls said.

A woman broke down at the scene where a mum, 40, was killed when a car struck a group of mother's having coffee

A woman broke down at the scene where a mum, 40, was killed when a car struck a group of mother’s having coffee

The Holden Commodore smashed into the shopfront at the corner of Malton Road and Roma Street, shortly before 10.15am on Friday

‘Physically he wasn’t hurt by the crash but he was very shaken’.

Locals told Daily Mail Australia Keith’s wife went into a nursing last year before dying two months ago. 

Dozens of flowers and other tributes were laid by mourners outside the cafe where the mother died.

A friend of the deceased mother, Monica Galouzis, told Nine News she had seen the group earlier sitting outside.

‘They were sitting at a different table earlier. They must have moved around for the sun,’ she said.

‘Most mums from North Epping Public come at least once a week, and we catch up after school drop offs.

‘It’s really heartbreaking.’  

Multiple ambulance crews treated nine other people at the scene, with four taken to hospital in a stable condition.  

Witnesses said the design of the carpark had caused problems in the past.

‘It’s happened a few times when someone has tried to park their car in the disabled spot and mounted the curb,’ a witness said. 

‘They put the accelerator down too hard and mount the curb.’ 

Epping local Leoni McCulluch was walking her dog Toffee on the opposite side of the street when she heard screaming from the cafe.

‘I heard some screaming, I thought that someone had lost their dog because I saw a dog running across the road,’ she said.

‘I realised once I went across the road that it wasn’t that simple. I was there to see the car pulled back.

The driver, an 89-year-old man known only as 'Keith', was taken to Ryde Hospital for mandatory testing

The driver, an 89-year-old man known only as ‘Keith’, was taken to Ryde Hospital for mandatory testing

Police and fire fighters were at the scene, which was taped off on Friday night

Police and fire fighters were at the scene, which was taped off on Friday night

Paramedics attend to a woman at the scene of a crash where 10 people were injured

Paramedics attend to a woman at the scene of a crash where 10 people were injured

She said the area was a common meeting place for all the mothers after school. 

‘I was there last week having a cup of hot chocolate with some friends,’ she said, tears welling up in her eyes.

‘If I didn’t have Toffee and I wasn’t rushing around all morning it might have been me.’  

Shocked locals had gathered outside the cafe at 3pm, heartbroken by the loss.

The mother was ‘one of the sweetest people I know’, her neighbour told 9news.

‘She’s just lovely.’

NSW Ambulance Superintendent Steve Vaughan said two of the patients taken to hospital had leg injuries and two others had minor injuries.

He said crews arrived to find ‘a number of patients spread across the scene’.

‘When you get a call like this, you can’t help but think the worst, then all of a sudden your training kicks in and you find yourself thinking about the best way to triage and treat the patients, while managing the scene,’ he said.  

Pictured: A broken chair at the scene of the crash which left 10 people injured

Pictured: A broken chair at the scene of the crash which left 10 people injured

A woman is taken to an ambulance after a car ploughed through a cafe in Sydney

A woman is taken to an ambulance after a car ploughed through a cafe in Sydney

 

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