Cooper Bennett, son of well-known locals Tony and Vanessa, was very lucky to survive this car accident on a rainy day on our local roads.
After the scariest time of their lives with their son Cooper in an induced coma for 10 days, well-known local business owners Tony and Vanessa Bennett are counting their blessings and thanking the local community for all of their support.
Hold tight - we’re checking permissions before loading more content
Earlier this year, Cooper was involved in a horrific accident which caused him to be cut from his work vehicle, suffering several awful injuries, placed in an induced coma and spending almost three months in hospital.
“I was sitting in my office on a rainy Wednesday morning, when Coopers boss, Tyler Bonat rang informing us that Cooper had been involved in an accident in the ATF work truck between Rutherglen and Wodonga. At the time no further details were known,” Cooper’s dad Tony said.
“Everything changed about 10 minutes later when I received a call from the Senior Seargent of the Wodonga Police who told me that Cooper was currently being cut out of the truck and was either going to be flown to Melbourne or taken to Albury.
“The hardest thing I had to do was ring Vanessa and tell her all I knew at that stage. Due to the weather conditions and being unable to land the helicopter at the accident site, he was taken to the Emergency Department (RESUS) at the Albury Base Hospital.
“Ironically, this is where our daughter Tori works although she wasn’t working at the time.
“He had been placed into an induced coma - ultimately life support which he would be on for the next 10 days.
“There was more than 20 emergency staff in and around the room so we knew things were dire.”
“After several hours to stabilise him, he had to get flown directly to Melbourne.
“Cooper suffered a broken neck, six broken ribs, a broken back, shattered pelvis, both legs shattered below the knee, broken ankles, a broken toe, a collapsed lung, and damage to the spleen,” Tony said.
“On reflection, celebrating the small wins demonstrated the shift in mindset regarding what's most important to us, and highlighted how tightly we were clinging onto hope that he would be okay.
“He danced with death two more times whilst in ICU. He developed large blood clots in the main section of his lungs, resulting in acute damage to his heart then had a massive anaphylactic reaction to a medication throughout a major surgery.
“It took three days for him to be stable enough for the team to confidently and safely operate on him again. Unbelievably, within two hours of coming out of the coma he was having a full conversation.”
One of the best days in Cooper’s 75 day stay in hospital was a visit from his canine companion Reggie. Cooper is now home and on the mend, slowly but surely.
Fast forward to today, after 10 days on life support and 75 days in hospital, Cooper is now home and the Bennett family and Cooper’s friends couldn’t be happier.
“Cooper spent eight weeks in the Epworth Rehab Centre. The first big win for him was being able to remove the neck brace after two months. Then came the ability to ‘weight bare’,” Tony said.
“All in all, he is still with us and for this we are extremely lucky ~ blessed, call it what you like.
“Some say he was unlucky, but we believe he was lucky.
“To visit the rehab centre, you get to see what unlucky is, but again, they are all still alive. You wouldn’t wish any of these situations on your worst enemies.”
Whilst going through the unimaginable, the Bennett family received amazing support from the local community of which they are eternally grateful.
“The phone calls, messages, visits, gifts and prayers have totalled into the thousands, and we have appreciated every single one of them,” Tony said.
“To say we are lucky to have lived in Yarrawonga / Mulwala for over 30+ years is an understatement.”
Tony said ultimately, it’s a timely reminder just how quick things can change, and you never know what’s around the corner. Sharing a great piece of advice for all parents.
“Cooper is still with us. For those who know him, know he is very determined and this has been shown with his remarkable rehab,” Tony said.
“It will be a long road ahead with continual rehab and numerous operations down the track, but what he has on his side is time.
“Please give your kids a kiss and a hug and tell them you love them because they could be taken from you in the blink of an eye. We came very close.
“Remind them to remain vigilant, especially those who are on the road either as a driver or passenger.”
