10-year-old boy still in coma after helicopter crash

A 10-year-old Australian boy remains in a coma after two helicopters collided killing four people, including the child’s mother.

Another 9-year-old boy, who was hospitalized in critical condition after the crash, woke up Thursday with brain injuries, according to health authorities.

The mother of the 9-year-old boy remains in hospital in a stable condition.

Three other people injured in the crash were released from hospital on Thursday, according to Queensland Health.

A pilot, two British tourists and the 10-year-old boy’s mother, Vanessa Tadros, 36, died when the helicopter they were on crashed to the ground after its rotor blades were sheared off.

Those seriously injured were on that helicopter.

The pilot of the second helicopter managed to land safely on the sandy outcrop despite the severe damage to the plane, authorities said.

Queensland Health said Nicholas Tadros, a 10-year-old boy from Sydney, remains in a critical condition. A relative told News Corp the boy’s latest surgery to stop the bleeding was successful.

Earlier this week, the boy’s father, Simon Tadros, said on social media that his son was in an induced coma and was on life support machines to help him breathe.

Nine-year-old Leon de Silva woke up in Brisbane Children’s Hospital on Thursday morning, health authorities said.

His mother Winnie, 33, was also awake and in a stable condition with two broken legs, a broken left knee, a broken right shoulder and a broken collarbone.

Also killed in the crash were pilot Ashley Jenkinson, 40, and British tourists Ron Hughes, 65, and Diane Hughes, 57.

John Orr-Campbell, head of Sea World Helicopters, which operates the two planes, said in a statement that Jenkinson was “a first-rate pilot, a first-rate human being and a A wonderful father, partner and friend.”

He said the company also offered its condolences to the passengers who died and “cannot imagine the horrific grief their families and loved ones must have felt”.

Video taken by a passenger in the helicopter that landed successfully shows another passenger trying to warn the pilot of the fast approaching second helicopter by tapping on the pilot’s shoulder.

The cockpit was splashed with shattered glass after one of the rotor blades of the second helicopter struck the windshield, and passengers then squeezed against the edge of the pilot’s seat for support.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau is investigating the crash.