Helen Haines, an Australian lawmaker struck by a car in an apparently deliberate attack on Monday, has lost both of her legs, her husband said on Wednesday. Counterterrorism investigators have joined a police probe into the incident, which occurred outside Haines' constituency office in Wangaratta, northeast of the Victorian capital, Melbourne. A 43-year-old suspect, Brendan N. from nearby Tarrawingee, appeared in Wangaratta Magistrates' Court on Wednesday charged with intentionally causing serious injury, dangerous driving causing serious injury and causing harm to a federal official.
The independent MP underwent surgery on Monday night after suffering what were described as critical injuries in the incident, with national broadcaster ABC and the daily Sydney Morning Herald reporting on Tuesday that her left leg had been amputated. Doctors then proceeded to amputate her right leg on Wednesday after having tried to save it. "The good news in all this is that Helen is alive and she’s stable.
That is the most important thing for our family," Phil Haines told reporters in Melbourne. "We are grateful and thankful that at this stage, both her heart and her mind are in good shape," he said. Haines, 65, was hit by an SUV, which police said was a white Toyota, outside her office.
She suffered serious injuries, particularly to her lower body. ABC cited witnesses as saying they heard a bang and then saw a woman pinned between two cars. Later reports from witnesses said that after first pinning Haines against her own car, the driver reversed and rammed into her a second time.
The driver was arrested shortly after, according to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. Albanese said early investigations suggested the driver made a U-turn before hitting Haines as she was loading or unloading items at the trunk of her car. "This wasn't an accident.
There was a deliberate act, it would appear," he told ABC. The suspect's lawyer, Chirag Patel, told Magistrate Allison Vaughan on Wednesday that his client suffers from a rare neurological condition, as well as an undiagnosed mental health condition. He also said the defendant was suffering from a concussion.
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