A child was seriously injured after being hit by a car. He says he was trying to save his three-year-old brother.
“I was like a big brother to my little brother, I pushed him aside so he wouldn’t get hurt, just like me,” Huseyin Pek, 8, his mother said after the crash.
The driver, Thanh Ngoc Vo, had arrived in Australia five days before the accident in September 2023 and was practicing driving around the block in his wife’s car when he hit the gas pedal instead of the brake.
The 49-year-old unlicensed driver ran over the young children, who were playing in a puddle behind their grandparents’ home in Braybrook, a Melbourne suburb.
Huseyin was seriously injured and underwent multiple surgeries, but may never walk properly again. His brother Burak Pek suffered minor injuries.
The boys’ families said they were relieved that “justice has been done in our favour” after Vo admitted dangerous driving that left him seriously injured. He was jailed on Wednesday.
“I am still angry, but I am here for my son and I will be there for him during the next trial,” Huseyin’s mother Demet Aydin said outside the court.
“I can’t accept that he regrets what he did to my son.”
Huseyin and Burek Pek were playing behind their grandparents’ house when a car hit them
Thanh Ngoc Vo (right) had arrived in Australia five days before the September 2023 crash and was practicing driving in his wife’s car when he hit the gas pedal instead of the brake
A heartbreaking statement from Ms Aydin was read out in court, describing how she heard the blow and how she feared the worst.
“Everything went silent, slow motion… all I could hear was the drone and boom, boom, boom,” she said.
“I thought Huseyin was dead.”
Vo drove into the lane when he accidentally hit the accelerator instead of the brake of the Toyota Prado, he told police.
He pressed the gas pedal even further, hitting the two children and the three parked cars.
Vo ran from the scene of the accident to his house, near the scene of the accident.
When police arrived shortly afterward, Vo fell to his knees in a prayer position and was arrested.
Huseyin’s multiple injuries were called “catastrophic” by prosecutors and required emergency surgery and nearly two months of hospitalization.
He suffered fractures and deep lacerations to his head, including an eight-inch wound from his left eyebrow to the center of his head.
“I can’t look at his face because I’m in tears,” Ms Aydin said.
She said Huseyin was once “the happiest boy” but that his leg injuries may mean he may never walk properly again.
“He wants me to give him a time frame where he will be back to normal, but I can’t do that,” she said.
“I don’t know what his future holds. He may never walk properly again.”
Thanh Ngoc Vo fled the scene, near where he hit the two boys. (HANDOUT/COUNTRY COURT OF VICTORIA)
Mrs. Aydin hoped that Vo would receive a long prison sentence and be deported to Vietnam after serving it.
“Doesn’t this man feel sorry for me? Doesn’t he think he should have helped my son?” she asked.
Judge Duncan Allen thanked Ms Aydin for her “harrowing, tragic” description of what had happened to her child.
“It’s undoubtedly the most painful thing she’s ever had to do,” he said.
‘The impact of what happened that day and Mr Vo’s driving has been devastating in many ways.’
Demet Aydin is angry with her sons after they were hit by a car in a Melbourne suburb
Huseyin’s multiple injuries were described by prosecutors as “catastrophic” and required emergency surgery and nearly two months of hospitalization.
Lawyer Zoe Broughton asked Vo to do community service but accepted he would serve time in prison for the tragedy.
“I don’t think I can just stand here and ask Your Honour to prevent the loss of his liberty,” she said.
The hearing was adjourned until October 28 and Vo, who was released on bail, was taken to prison.