A heroic mother was left covered in bruises after protecting her baby from huge hail stones in a storm.
Fiona Simpson was driving with her baby daughter and grandmother through southeast Queensland on Thursday (October 11) when they got caught in a supercell tornado.
The huge storm tore through Tansey, a small town 250km north of Brisbane, throwing down tennis ball sized hail stones which smashed through Fiona’s car windows.
The hail battered down on the occupants of the car as they drove on the D’Aguilar Highway at Coolabunia, 88km south of Tansey, causing them to pull over and leaving Fiona with awful cuts and bruises.
Despite her attempts to shield the baby, the huge chunks of ice hit Fiona’s daughter on the head.
All three members of the family were hospitalised after the accident, and the mother shared pictures of her injuries to Facebook.
Explaining what happened, she wrote:
I’ve learnt my lesson today, NEVER drive in a hail storm! We parked on the side of the road when the storm got to heavy and the hail blew out our windows. I covered my infant with my body to stop her from getting badly injured.
Please, please be careful in this storm season.[sic]
The post continued:
I know I’ll be sore tomorrow, does anyone know of a cream or ointment that will help with the bruising? My entire back, arms and head are badly bruised.
It was the storm at kingaroy, we were driving on the nanango to kingaroy high way when it happened.
I’m just so relived that my daughter and grandmother are alright. [sic]
I’ve learnt my lesson today, NEVER drive in a hail storm! We parked on the side of the road when the storm got to heavy…
Posted by Fiona Simpson on Thursday, 11 October 2018
According to Nine News, the Bureau of Meteorology said the South Burnett region and other parts of the southeast received the brunt of three severe storms – two of them super-cell storms, with two tornadoes also spotted.
Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Jonathon Howe commented on the severe weather, explaining:
October is around the time for supercells in south-east Queensland.
We’ll see some more supercells through today but probably more into the north and the central highlands rather than around the coast like we saw yesterday
Rain is expected to get heavy later tonight and over the weekend. So residents should keep an eye out for possible flood watches.
People were shocked to see Fiona’s photos, with many people commenting their well wishes for the woman and her family.
One supportive person wrote:
Poor mum Bub and grandma. What a horrible experience. Glad u guys made it.
Another added:
Omg fi! How terrifying! But look at those mamma instincts kick in straight away! Even though you would be so sore and upset you should be so proud of yourself!
Hopefully Fiona and her family will recover quickly from their ordeal.
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Emily Brown first began delivering important news stories aged just 13, when she launched her career with a paper round. She graduated with a BA Hons in English Language in the Media from Lancaster University, and went on to become a freelance writer and blogger. Emily contributed to The Sunday Times Travel Magazine and Student Problems before becoming a journalist at UNILAD, where she works on breaking news as well as longer form features.