A young woman who was nearly killed by a drunk motorist who reversed his ute into a crowd outside a West Australian pub recalls her miraculous recovery.
Georgia Moloney and her friend Alexis Tate were outside the Crown Hotel Collie in October 2020 when they were hit and pushed against a wall by a ute driven by Benjamin Lawrence Bryne-Quinn.
According to photos from the scene, the truck drove into the pub with such power that the wall partially collapsed, leaving a huge hole in the masonry.
Miss Moloney, who was 23 at the time, was rushed to the Royal Perth Hospital’s intensive care unit, where she was expected to die.
Due to the severity of her abdominal wounds, doctors had to wait seven weeks to sew her abdomen together.
She went into a coma during her rehabilitation in intensive care and told 7News she wasn’t sure she’d make it.
‘[I] remember flat lining multiple times and having an out-of-body experience, telling myself ‘no, not yet, you got this far”,’ she told 7news.
‘I remember thinking ”I won’t make it, please tell mum and dad I love them”.’
Miss Moloney underwent 16 surgeries to repair her injuries and five months of rehabilitation before she could walk again.
Bryne-Quinn is being sentenced for the incident but has been allowed to drive until then.
Miss Molney recalled how painful the event had been for her, and she said the news that the court had permitted Bryne-Quinn to continue driving increased her anguish.
Bryne-Quinn admitted driving the vehicle that hit Miss Moloney and Miss Tate.
Bryne-Quinn has been permitted to drive for the past 18 months while awaiting sentencing. He risks a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
On Monday, he will be sentenced.