Tragic way dad found out his wife and two children had been killed in horror car crash on motorway
A DAD reportedly discovered his wife and two children were in a deadly car crash after receiving an alert from his Apple Watch.
Ian Prahastono is said to have found out the tragic news via the Crash Detection safety feature on the device just after 11am on Monday morning.
His wife Katrina Sila, 34, and their two-year-old son Kai Prahastono were killed instantly when their SUV collided with a cement truck on the Hume Motorway in south-west Sydney, Australia.
Their youngest child, three-month-old Ivy, was harrowingly trapped in the wreckage for up to an hour – but her car seat saved her life.
She was eventually freed and airlifted to The Children’s Hospital at Westmead in critical condition, before sadly succumbing to her injuries on Wednesday morning.
Dad Ian was at work when the devastating crash occurred but spent the last two days at his baby girl’s hospital bedside.
Investigators believe Katrina may have attempted to perform a U-turn from an emergency bay when she collided with the truck.
Motorists rushed to help the family after the smash which caused her car’s engine to catapult a hundred metres up the road.
Ian was alerted by his Apple Watch moments after the crash, according to 7News.
It uses special sensors that detect the types of jolts one would expect from a collision and can notify emergency services or contacts.
The feature has been credited with saving lives after a dying hit-and-run victim was rescued after his Apple Watch called him an ambulance.
The gadget kicked into action after detecting Muhammad Fitri’s fall and when he remained motionless on the ground.
But it seems to have sadly acted as the messenger of the heartwrenching news of the family’s fatal crash.
Police said Katrina was heading to the family’s Denham Court home in Sydney’s south-west when the tragedy unfolded.
The male truck driver, 48, was not injured and since undergone mandatory drug and alcohol testing.
Police are investigating the crash’s circumstances and will prepare a report for the coroner.
Investigators urged anyone with dashcam vision in the area or anyone with further information to come forward.
A devastated relative said: “We would like to express our gratitude for the support everyone has shown us…strangers we don’t even know, and first responders, everyone that was on the scene and everyone who tried to help.”
Katrina was remembered as a “loving mother, devoted wife and friend to many,” by pals.
Ambulance NSW Superintendent Mark Gibbs said it was a “challenging scene” for paramedics to attend.
“It is hard to think anybody did survive that wreckage – such a tragic and high-speed incident,” he said.
He also believed the baby seat Ivy had been strapped into was likely to have initially saved her life
“It shows how child restraints work in such tragic circumstances,” Superintendent Gibbs added.