The crash

After Frasier, we drove up to Rockhampton, slept in the van on a carvan park, and had a nice barbeque. The next day, we were driving towards Airlie Beach, where i would drop off the girls to go on their Whitsundays tour, and drive further up to Cairns myself. We didn't actually get there - just after noon, Kalyani veerwed a bit off the road( due to road damage), into the grass. She tried to correct the manoeuvre, but the van started swirving, and we ended up rolling over the Bruce highway. We were driving around 90km/h so it was quite an impressive crash. The van ended up on it's left side, and Maaike had her arm stuck under it. Me and Kalyani managed to lift it off there, and i contacted the emergency services. Some people who stopped by in the mean time (they didn't really have a choice, our van blocked the entire road), helped me to explain our exact location (on the Bruce Highway, near Carmila, about 160km south of Mackay).
It took about 20 minutes before the first ambulance came, but Maaike was already being helped a bit by a nurse, and some other people with a first aid kit. Maaike was the only one with severe injuries, me and Kalyani had nothing appart from some scratches and small cuts... quite surprising if you see the state of the van... this could've been a lot worse... some 20 more minutes another ambulance and a police car came by, and the helicopter was called in. The girls were transported to the hospital in Mackay by the RACQ-CQ, and I followed the van on the tow-truck don't think it 'll ever drive again) in the police car. After we arranged the police report, i got our luggage out of the wreck, and the people in Carmila arranged a lift for me to Mackay hospital. There, got a small medical checkup ( didn't have more than a bruised hand from blocking myself to the roof during the crash and some cuts on my feet from running around in the glass on bare feet afterwards). Maaike was to have her first surgery - mainly having a lot of glass removed, and a assesment of the damage. Me and Kaly could stay in the red cross emergency accomodation next to the hospital... Maaike got another operation to days after, and was then transported by the flying doctors to Townsville, where better hand-doctors are available... Appart from a broken arm, and fractures in her fingers, there is also some damage in the nerves of her hands, and this requires very precise surgery... All in all, we're all lucky to be still alive, Maaike's the one who suffered the most, still has a lot of pain, and it will take a while until she entirely recovers... I wish her a lot of strenght in the next few weeks...
Pictures - impressive ones, but not on my camera, cause that's the only thing appart from the van that didn't survive the crash - and newspaper article - page two of the Daily Mercury - will follow later (when i get the pics from the girls, and find a scanner for the article).