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A 10-year-old girl who lost her arm in a horrific bus crash has relived the devastating tragedy and revealed how she was rebuilding her life 14 weeks later.
Awhe Pikari was with her two brothers on a school bus when it was hit by a truck, causing the bus to veer off the road on its side with 46 children inside on May 16.
She was among ten children seriously injured in the accident, which occurred shortly after leaving Exford Primary School, near Melton, 50km west of Melbourne, at around 3.55pm.
Her brothers escaped with minor injuries, but little Awhe had to be freed from the rubble and her left arm had to be amputated.
“It wasn’t scary,” she revealed on Seven’s Sunrise on Wednesday. “It’s just that I was so tired.”
The brave 5th grader said her parents later told her the news of the loss of her arm, but added: “As long as you are still here with us, we can move on.
“And I’m not dead, so…”
Awhe Pikari, 10, (pictured), who lost her arm in a horrific bus crash, relived the devastating tragedy and revealed how she was rebuilding her life 14 weeks later
She was among ten children seriously injured in the crash, which happened shortly after leaving Exford Primary School, near Melton, 50km west of Melbourne, at around 3.55pm on May 16.
His New Zealand-born father Daniel, who works in a refrigerated warehouse, revealed that the school initially told him the accident was not serious.
“We received a message from the school that there was a minor accident,” he said. “I had just finished my work at Sunshine and went straight down.
“I saw the two boys, they were all fine, but obviously the natural first instinct is, ‘Where’s my other baby?
Awhe was the first student taken from the crash site to the hospital where surgeons fought to keep her alive but failed to save her arm.
“Right now I still have a lot of hope – maybe a broken arm, maybe broken bones or big lacerations on my arms,” his father said.
“Then we learned that unfortunately his left arm had to be amputated. We wanted to be the ones who told him.
Less than four months later, Awhe is bravely relearning the basics of life to fend for herself with one hand, making even simple tasks like brushing her teeth tricky.
She explained how she put the brush down before applying toothpaste to it, then taking it back to use it normally.
Awhe also faces other challenges: “Doing my sheets, lifting things that should be lifted with two hands…”
But she is already able to start enjoying simple pleasures like having fun in a swimming pool.
“I learned to swim and push myself to do these kinds of activities,” she said. “I can brush my hair now, but I can’t tie it up yet.
Even though she’s already back in school after undergoing two surgeries, she still has to watch out for her classmates, she says.
“One important thing: don’t go out,” she explained. “There are bullets flying everywhere…and they could hurt my stump.”
Daniel (left), father of Kiwi-born Awhe Pikri, who works in a refrigerated warehouse, revealed the school initially told him the accident was not serious.
Due to her age and the fact that she will be constantly growing in the years to come, she may have to wait years before she can receive a prosthetic arm.
His father added: “We’re just going to put one foot after another.
“We just have to keep moving forward.”
The crash happened just 1km from Awhe School when a lorry allegedly slammed into the back of the bus as it tried to turn right off the motorway.
Nine children were trapped in the rubble, while eight suffered life-threatening injuries, eight were seriously injured and 30 were described as “walking injured”.
Another child who lost limbs in the accident had to have both arms amputated.
Victoria Police Superintendent Michael Cruse said it was a miracle no one was killed in the crash.
“The bus suffered significant damage, it also overturned,” he said.
“It’s very happy that the injuries are not more serious, but I have to stress that this is still a very serious incident.”
Truck driver Jamie Gleeson, 49, was arrested at the scene and charged with four counts of dangerous driving causing serious injury.
He appeared in court the following day, where further details of the horrific accident emerged.
Prosecutor Ben Kerwin said Mr Gleeson would have finished his work an hour early after spending around 10 hours driving “five to six” loads of clay from Bulla to a construction site in the inner suburbs of Melbourne, in Kensington.
He was returning home following his “usual route”, he said.
The crash happened just 1km from Awhe School when a lorry allegedly slammed into the back of the bus as it attempted to turn right off the motorway.
Mr Kerwin said there was no evidence of alcohol or drugs and Mr Gleeson told investigators he was driving at around 70 km/h, which is 10 km/h below the speed limit. posted speed limit.
The court heard that the bus had slowed down and was pointing to the right when its right rear panel was struck by the truck, causing it to flip onto its side.
“The next moment the bus in front slowed down and started going to the right and all of a sudden I saw stop lights,” the father-of-two reportedly told police.
“I tried to take evasive action but couldn’t… the impact didn’t feel massive.”
Mr Gleeson has been released on bail and will return to court in October.