Phil Haines has spoken publicly for the first time since a car struck his wife, independent MP Helen Haines, outside her Wangaratta electorate office on Monday. He said both of her legs have been amputated and that her recovery would be long and difficult. Doctors at the Alfred hospital in Melbourne are treating her for critical injuries. Governor-General Sam Mostyn urged Australians to debate with greater civility. Former MP Cathy McGowan called on voters to call out bad behaviour, and a vigil was planned in Wodonga.
Independent MP Helen Haines has had both legs amputated after she was struck by a car outside her electorate office in Victoria's northeast. Her husband, Phil, said she is alive and stable, but her recovery will be long and difficult. Brendan Nugent, 43, has appeared in court charged with dangerous driving causing serious injury, intentionally causing serious injury and causing harm to a public official. Police allege the attack was targeted. Victoria Police say the investigation is ongoing and further charges have not been ruled out.
Independent MP Helen Haines has had a second leg amputated and is alive and stable, her husband Phil Haines says. He described her road to recovery as long and difficult, but said she is a fighter. Hospital staff say she remains in critical condition. A man has been charged over an alleged attack on her. Police say the motive is still not known. The Wangaratta mayor said the community is in collective shock and sadness.
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A woman has lost her medical negligence claim against the Hunter New England Local Health District after alleging doctors unnecessarily amputated her lower left leg. Vesna Zvicer was admitted to John Hunter Hospital in Newcastle in 2020 with sepsis, which worsened, leading to the amputation recommendation. NSW Supreme Court Justice Edward Muston dismissed her claim, stating the health district did not breach its duty of care. The court heard surgeons determined the leg was unviable and feared gangrene, while Ms Zvicer's legal team argued a fasciotomy could have saved it.
A West Australian firefighter lost his leg in a shark attack while surfing at Glenfield Beach near Geraldton. Mel Ismail described facing the shark and trying to push its eye as it dragged him underwater. After the attack, fellow surfer Shannan Dunn helped him reach shore, where others assisted with first aid and transport to hospital. The shark species remains unidentified.
