Warrandyte parents fly to NSW to be with injured children after horror bus crash

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Parents of Victorians hurt in a Hunter Valley bus crash that killed 10 have flown to NSW to be with their children in hospital as the small community of Warrandyte fears there may be more tragic news to come.

Mitchell Gaffney and Maddy Edsell’s beautiful day turned to horror on Sunday night after a bus carrying their wedding guests rolled on the way back from the reception.

Gaffney played for the Warrandyte Cricket Club in Melbourne’s leafy north-eastern suburbs while living in Victoria before moving to the Hunter Valley six years ago. Edsell played netball for the Warrandyte Netball Club from juniors through to seniors.

Eight current and former players from the cricket club, and five of their partners, were on board the bus. The couple were not aboard.

A Warrandyte sporting club source, who was not authorised to speak publicly, said parents of some of the injured people on the bus had flown to NSW to be by their side in hospital. They were also concerned there may be other fatalities from Warrandyte, and said there had been confusion late on Sunday night as news of the crash filtered through.

Former Warrandyte Cricket Club president Royce Jaksic said nine people linked with the club had been hurt, but they had mostly received “some minor injuries – a broken jaw, a broken collarbone, things like that”.

“Compared to the 10 people that have tragically lost their lives, I think we’ve been blessed in this one,” he said.

“If you do the math, they’ve been extremely lucky. We’ve just got fingers and toes crossed that no one else loses their lives.”

Jaksic said the couple had been stalwarts of the community in Singleton.

“Talking to the guys that are up there now, [Gaffney] is a bit of a larrikin and was a much-loved part of the cricket club during his time.”

Warrandyte Netball Club president Jimmy Harris said Edsell had started playing the sport as a young girl, before rising through the ranks in her more than 10 years at the club to compete in the seniors competition. She finished playing for the team in 2016.

Harris said at this stage, he was unsure whether any netball players from the club were caught up in the crash.

“Madeleine’s family is heavily involved in the community, and her mother was a volunteer with the netball club, helping quite a lot at club functions,” Harris said.

“It comes as a bit of a shock when you read on the news that something’s happened, and then it turns out just how close to home it actually is.”

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