A wedding guest on a Hunter Valley bus which crashed, killing 10 people, has told how he woke in hospital five days later with a gut feeling his wife and daughter had died.
Graham McBride, who lost his wife Nadene and their only daughter Kyah, 22, in the crash, addressed the Newcastle District Court on Monday during an expected three-day sentence hearing for bus driver Brett Button.
He said that after he woke up, he asked doctors, nurses and friends to tell him where his wife and daughter were but “nobody could or would tell me”.
“I had a bad feeling my girls had been taken from me. It was like waking up in a nightmare,” he said.
“The loss of my girls was something I could not comprehend in my head until I saw my beautiful broken girls (in the morgue). It was killing me seeing my girls so broken.”
One of 25 passengers injured in the crash, Mr McBride had been flown unconscious to hospital by helicopter after the June 11, 2023 crash suffering fractures to his neck, left arm and ribs, numerous cuts and abrasions, and a severe scalp wound.
He discharged himself on June 26 because he wanted to go home and lay in the bed he once shared with his wife.
“I wanted to smell her scent one last time on the bedsheets and pillows,” he said.
Another survivor, Nick Dinakis, whose partner Darcy Bulman was killed in the crash, said he was a broken man.
“You’ve broken me physically, you’ve scarred my body, and worst of all you’ve broken my heart and mind,” Mr Dinakis told Button.
“Not only did you leave me close to death and in ICU with a broken neck, glass and debris throughout my face like shrapnel, and with a brain injury I am likely to never recover from, you ruined my career, my ability to work at the top of my game.”
He said the worst part had been how Button had killed his partner and best friend.
The couple had met at high school and she was, and always would be, his unconditional love.
“She was my forever person,” Mr Dinakis said.
He had been planning to propose to Ms Bulman, an Australian Securities and Investments Commission investigator in Melbourne, during a trip to Europe this year.
“You killed her. You took away her opportunity to become the one thing she had always dreamed of (being), a mother,” he said.
“There is no punishment large enough that can soften the blow of the senseless, careless and stupid crime you’ve committed.
“You killed 10 highly skilled and respected people. I hope the image of Darcy Kate Bulman and the nine other beautiful humans you killed are tattooed in your brain.”
Button, 59, has pleaded guilty to 10 charges of dangerous driving causing death, nine counts of dangerous driving causing grievous bodily harm and 16 counts of causing bodily harm by wanton driving.
Prosecutors dropped 10 manslaughter charges against Button after his guilty pleas, in a deal criticised by a number of the victims’ families.
Button lost control of the bus taking 35 wedding guests from the Wandin Valley Estate to Singleton about 11.30pm.
He took a roundabout at Greta too fast, telling some passengers “this next part is going to be fun” before the fatal crash in thick fog.
The bus slammed into a guard rail and rolled onto its side.
Forensic analysts believe Button took 400mg of the opioid Tramadol in the 24 hours before the crash.
Button accepted his driving ability was impaired by the painkiller, which can cause drowsiness, mental clouding and visual functioning deficiencies.
The 10 people who died in the crash were: Darcy Bulman, Nadene McBride and her daughter, Kyah, Kane Symons, Andrew Scott and his wife Lynan, Zach Bray, Angus Craig, Tori Cowburn, and Rebecca Mullen.
The sentence hearing continues on Tuesday.
