Lucky escape

By Monique Ebrington
TWO Yarra Junction men escaped the holiday road toll when the car in which they were travelling crashed on the Healesville-Yarra Glen Road on 22 December at 11.45pm.
Jessie Guiheneuf, 27, and Matt Hammond, 26, were travelling east in a silver BMW when the accident occurred on a right-turn bend.
Police say the car veered before hitting a tree and sliding down a steep embankment.
Although all seven airbags in the car deployed, the driver received life-threatening injuries and serious burns and was airlifted to The Alfred hospital. The passenger was taken to Royal Melbourne Hospital, and later transferred to The Alfred.
Both men had grown up in Yarra Junction and both are members of Yarra Junction Football Club.
Sergeant Warren Heal of Lilydale police said the section of road along which the car was travelling required particular care.
“Drivers have to go through a few small hills and bendy roads; it gets flat for a while before becoming a bit more undulating and windy. That road has hazards, like all roads,” Sgt Heal said.
Sgt Heal said crashes over the Christmas break could be particularly devastating to families. “Any accident impacts many people. The flow-on effect of an accident means that the family and friends of those involved are also affected and all the more this time of year,” he said.
Drivers should take extra precautions during the holiday period, Sgt Heal said.
“Traditionally, Christmas is a time when we have a lot more accidents because there are a lot more people on the road, like holiday-makers and people visiting the Yarra Valley,” he said.
A spokesperson for The Alfred told the Mail that Mr Guiheneuf had been discharged, while Mr Hammond was in a stable condition at The Alfred.