![CLOSE CALL: Bega MP Andrew Constance, wife Ainslie and daughter Zara are recovering after Sunday’s accident near Mogo. CLOSE CALL: Bega MP Andrew Constance, wife Ainslie and daughter Zara are recovering after Sunday’s accident near Mogo.](/images/transform/v1/resize/frm/silverstone-feed-data/940b98b2-da07-4ebd-b029-97de8a19c64c.jpg/w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
A high-speed, head-on smash at Mogo on Saturday left Bega MP Andrew Constance with a broken hand, his wife Ainslie confined to a hospital bed, and his four-year-old daughter bruised.
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Despite that, he says his family “won the lottery”.
The family was travelling to Sydney when the collision, with a Holden Commodore carrying five people, occurred.
They had been heading south to Moruya Airport, but changed their plans due to bad weather.
Heading north to Sydney, along George Bass Drive, the family was redirected onto Tomakin Road due to another accident, near McKenzies Beach.
Minutes later they were involved in an accident of their own; a high speed head-on smash, near the Dunns Creek Road intersection of Tomakin Road.
That no one was killed left Mr Constance feeling he’d won the lottery.
“It just happened so quickly. It makes you reflect on how important life is,” he said.
“It’s just a freak thing that I’d missed the plane ... so we decided to drive to Sydney. We had to drive ... to avoid the accident on George Bass Drive and became an accident ourselves.”
Speaking to the Bay Post/Moruya Examiner from Canberra Hospital, where he was awaiting surgery on his broken hand, Mr Constance repeated that “everything happened so quickly”.
“It was at an incredible speed, even to the point of getting everyone out of the car - it was all so quick,” he said.
“I guess the thing is, that I think everybody in our community is wary that this could happen to them.”
Canberra surgeons were yesterday preparing to insert pins into Mr Constance’s hand, to strengthen it in recovery.
Meanwhile, Ms Constance is undergoing treatment at Moruya Hospital for severe bruising to her leg, torn muscles and other injuries.
Her pain is considerable, and her injuries, which could require surgery, prevent her from walking at this stage.
However, she says the worst part is when she closes her eyes and the accident flashes before her.
The couple is eternally grateful that except for some minor bruising to her shoulder, their daughter Zara was uninjured in the crash.
“She’s been absolutely fantastic,” Mr Constance said.
“She just seems to say, ‘Mummy’s car’s broken’.”
You don’t fully appreciate the role of the shire’s emergency services until you’re in an accident, Mr Constance says.
“We all know it but until your life is in their hands, in that situation, you really can’t fully appreciate that,” he said.
“They’re incredibly comforting, from the paramedics through to the nurses and the highway patrol police. They’re all great.”
With a number of accidents in the area around that time, paramedic services were stretched.
However, a Rural Fire Service volunteer was on hand to transport the Constance family, in an ambulance, to hospital.
Mr Constance will take the next few weeks to focus on his family’s recovery before returning to work.