“I began to panic when I smelled fuel leaking from the bus and worried we were about to set fire as well,” she said.
The young woman held her friend’s hand until her leg was free, and they were able to escape the bus.
“I held her hand, told her it was going to be OK, feeling deep dread and hoping nothing would spark.”
During the student’s statement, Russell, who appeared via video link from prison, wiped tears from his eyes.
The young woman’s father, whose statement was read to the court, said the mental toll from the crash rippled out across entire families.
He said the incident would impact his daughter for the rest of her life, and she still struggled with daily tasks like driving and would plan so she didn’t have to be in a car at night.
“[She] … was trapped inside a dark bus, helping others that were either pinned under seats or too injured to move.
“Not only was she trying to help others deal with the horrifying terror of not being able to get out but also the concern the fuel she could smell could burst into flames at any second,” he said.
Another schoolgirl turned 16 the day of the crash, and instead of celebration and joy, she experienced emotional trauma and a fear she couldn’t explain.
“The crash didn’t just leave a mark, it broke something in me, in all of us that day, and everything that came after.”
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She told the court she woke up lying in the dirt where the window was, and remembered trying not to pass out.
The teenager recalled climbing out of the wreckage with a friend, but falling into a ditch and was covered in vomit and blood.
“It was pitch-black. We could barely see, barely walk,” she said.
“I was covered in vomit as a result of my concussion. There was blood all over my phone, clothes and hair. I didn’t know if it was mine or someone else’s. I felt helpless and humiliated.”
In an interview with police months after the crash, Russell said his boss told him it would take a day before the parts needed to fix the brakes would arrive.
But he said he thought he would “be alright” despite the truck’s brake issues.
When detectives asked him if he was aware of the risk, he said: “Yes. And I still took the risk.”
About 15 kilometres before the crash, there had been alarms sounding in his cabin about the brakes, Russell told police.
Soon after, he began approaching roadworks which had a 40km/h speed limit but was unable to slow down. He crashed into the rear of the school bus, shunting it through a barrier and causing it to repeatedly roll down the embankment.
The pre-sentence hearing continues.
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