'I WANT TO SAVE LIVES'

After surviving a car crash that killed her older sister, Elaina wants to make our roads safer

- Sarah Marinos

At her high school in Casino, NSW, Elaina Underhill is a hardworking student. She listens in class, does her homework and knows what she wants to do when she graduates.

“I want to join the Army and learn to fly choppers, so I can join the Westpac Rescue Helicopter team and help save people's lives - just like they saved mine,” says Elaina, 11.

“I would have died if the helicopter team hadn’t been there on the day of the crash, and while they couldn’t save my sister, Elle, I know they worked really hard to save me.”

On December 18, 2015, Elaina, then two, and four-year-old Elle had been taken for a drive by their 18-year-old babysitter, Courteney Matthews. They were looking forward to summer holidays and Christmas, but the day turned to tragedy when the car driven by Courteney hit an oncoming vehicle - the impact splitting her vehicle in half and leaving debris strewn across both lanes of the highway.

LIFE WITHOUT ELLE

While Elle passed away, Elaina was saved by paramedics and the Westpac Rescue Helicopter Service that airlifted her to a Brisbane hospital.