The young driver who survived 30 hours trapped in his crashed car at Lake Macquarie has undergone surgery on a fractured leg and will need weeks to recover from his injuries.
Sam Lethbridge, whose father Tony hired a helicopter to find his son a day after he went missing last Sunday, has barely been conscious since he was taken to Newcastle’s John Hunter Hospital.
The 17-year-old suffered three fractures to an arm, three fractures to an elbow and a dislocated elbow. All injuries are on his right side.
The worst injury is a compound fracture to Sam’s thighbone which left bone protruding 5 centimetres through the skin, his father said.
Skyline Aviation Group pilot Lee Mitchell with the Robinson R44 he flew to locate where Sam Lethbridge had crashed
Sam Lethbridge (left) was discovered about 10am on Monday when his uncle and a helicopter pilot spotted the wreckage of his crashed car in bushland off the Pacific Highway south of Newcastle. His sister Megan and father Tony are pictured right
Sam Lethbridge’s vehicle after he was cut free from the wreckage at Crangan Bay, south of Newcastle, on Monday
‘He’s getting there,’ Mr Lethbridge told Daily Mail Australia. ‘He’s just recovering very, very slowly.
‘We’re not rushing anything with him. There’s going to be a lot of rehab. It will be a minimum of four weeks.’
Mr Lethbridge also revealed Skyline Aviation Group had returned the $1000 he paid for the flight to find his son when he went to thank pilot Lee Mitchell on Wednesday morning.
‘I would have paid 10 times more than that if I had to,’ Mr Lethbridge said. ‘I’ts good to see there’s people like that. I cannot speak highly enough of them.’
Supporters including Sam’s 19-year-old sister Megan have started a mycause fundraising page appealing for donations to go towards his medical bills.
‘Sam is now fighting in hospital with various medical issues and needs your help,’ the appeal states.
‘We are trying to raise enough money to help Sam and his family fight through this hard time, by making a small donation to the Lethbridge family it will contribute to Sam’s recovery as he has a long road ahead of him.’
Sam Lethbridge, 17, is taken by paramedics and NSW Fire and Rescue officers from the crash site south of Newcastle
Map showing where Sam Lethbridge’s vehicle was found at Crangan Bay on Lake Macquarie and where he was heading
Mr Lethbridge hired a helicopter to search for his son on Monday morning due to a gut feeling Sam had been involved in a car accident. The teenager had not been seen since before 6am on Sunday.
The pilot and Mr Lethbridge’s brother Michael found Sam’s crashed car in bushland off the Pacific Highway at Crangan Bay on Lake Macquarie after just 10 minutes’ flying.
Mr Lethbridge had recalled a fatal car accident which occurred at a spot nearby about five years ago and directed the pilot to search off that stretch of road.
The postman was grateful to everyone who had helped find his son.
‘It could have been a lot, lot worse,’ he said. ‘If the car didn’t land on its wheels we’d have been all sorts of strife.
‘Just so many things that went the right way for us.’
Sam’s sister Megan was the first person to contact police fearing him missing, about 8pm on Sunday.
Sam Lethbridge, 17, survived the night with a bone sticking out of his leg after his car left the Pacific Highway and slammed into an embankment at Crangan Bay
Sam Lethbridge, 17, was trapped for about 30 hours in his crashed car near Newcastle; he was found on Monday morning
‘I asked if there had been any accidents,’ Ms Lethbridge told Daily Mail Australia. ‘I asked “is there anything you can do?”.
‘They told me Sam had probably just run away. I said “that’s not him. Something is really wrong”.’
Ms Lethbridge had last been in contact with her brother about 12.30am on Sunday after she finished her bar job and had been unable to find him after contacting his friends that afternoon.
Ms Lethbridge’s parents were on a weekend away in Canberra, so she initially took on the responsibility of finding her brother.
Her parents arrived home about 1am Monday and also went to police but were not satisfied with what was being done searching for their son.
‘Dad said as soon as he walked out ‘we’re gong to hire a helicopter and find him’,’ Ms Lethbridge said.
‘He said “I’m not going to just sit here and lose him”.’
Sam was believed to have been driving from Gosford, on the Central Coast, to the Lethbridge family home at Blacksmiths, on Lake Macquarie, when he left the road after 6am on Sunday.
Paramedics and NSW Fire and Rescue officers work to free Sam Lethbridge from his car after its discovery on Monday
NSW Fire and Rescue officers at Sam Lethbridge’s vehicle after the 17-year-old was cut free late on Monday morning
Sam Lethbridge’s car had travelled at least 20 metres off the Pacific Highway on Sunday morning; it was found on Monday
On Monday, Mr Lethbridge went to Skyline Aviation Group at Lake Macquarie Airport and hired Mr Mitchell and his Robinson R44 helicopter to search for his son.
‘My job as far as being a pilot and looking for a car is the easy job,’ Mr Mitchell said.
‘The father had the insight to hire the helicopter in the first place and go looking for his son.
‘It was fortunate he had an idea where to start looking. He was fairly adamant it was somewhere between the Doyalson turnoff on the M1 and Swansea.’
He was right. Mr Mitchell and Michael Lethbridge spotted Sam’s vehicle after about 10 minutes in the air.
‘It was fairly obvious from the air and invisible from the road,’ Mr Mitchell said.
Helicopter pilot Lee Mitchell said he was in the air for only about 10 minutes before he and Michael Lethbridge found the car
The pilot called 000 and the helicopter hovered over the crash site.
‘It was a bit of a mission accomplished for me to be able to find the vehicle and at that point it’s important to remain composed in all the excitement,’ Mr Mitchell said.
At 10.01am Michael Lethbridge sent a text message to his brother to say he had spotted Sam’s crashed car off the Pacific Highway at Crangan Bay.
When Michael Lethbridge was able to reach the crashed vehicle he could see that Sam had survived the night.
Emergency services including ambulance and fire crews were called to the scene.
Sam was trapped in the driver’s seat. He was freed about midday, his sister said.
Ms Lethbridge wanted to thank Mr Mitchell and motorist Billy Creanor who stopped to render first aid.
The rescue operation took a painstaking 45 minutes, during which time Sam was given pain medication and stabilised by paramedics
Tyre marks from Sam Lethbridge’s car can be seen leaving the Pacific Highway and leading into bushland south of Newcastle
Sam was given pain medication during the rescue operation and was stabilised by paramedics.
NSW Ambulance superintendent Jeff Atkins said: ‘When we got to him he was pretty dehydrated. But his clinical observations were quite good which was amazing.’
‘He then had to be carried back to the highway.’
Superintendent Atkins said the teenager would need to undergo a ‘world of physio’ to regain full use of his injured leg.
A NSW police spokesperson said Sam Lethbridge was formally reported missing about 11pm on Sunday and an investigation began.
‘As part of that investigation a missing person report was tabled at the police Monday morning crime review and provided to senior management and supervisors with the contents then disseminated to all staff,’ the spokesperson said.
‘Police had also broadcast a “Keep a lookout for” message regarding the missing individual and vehicle which was issued statewide. This is in line with normal procedures for incidents such as this.’
The teenager needed to be cut from the wreckage (pictured) when he was discovered badly injured on the side of the Pacific Highway south of Newcastle