It was the image that shocked Australia: two friends posting a social media image of themselves in hospital, following a car crash that killed their close friend, Shania McNeil, 21, who had been driving their car.
WATCH THE FULL HORRIFYING VIDEO BELOW
Adding to the horror, the emergence of a Snapchat video taken seconds before the crash that appeared to show the women playing chicken with oncoming traffic. Their pink Suzuki slammed head-on into a Nissan Micra, resulting in devastating injuries for passengers in both cars, and the end of a young life.
The deceased’s passengers, friends Hazel Wildman and Faeda Hunter, confessed they had been drinking earlier in the evening, but it was their behaviour after the accident that left many observers most shocked.
So why did they do it? The women answered all on in interview with Seven’s Sunday Night – in which they insisted they had no idea their friend was dead when they posed for the infamous and seemingly callous selfie.
‘We just put it out there to say we’re all good, we’re okay, I thought Shania was still with us at that time,’ Hazel said, claiming they’d been receiving messages from friends wondering if they were OK.
Hazel says the last time they saw their friend, there was no indication she was seriously injured, let alone dead.
‘She looked like she was just sleeping. And happy sleeping. She looked all beautiful on the outside. She had two scratches on her. That’s all she had.’
Faeda, who has been in the front seat filming before the horrifying accident, confessed she has been encouraging her late friend’s antics before the accident.
‘We were encouraging her for a while… then it started to get scary,’ she said. ‘It was very reckless driving… stupid.’
The car then smashed into a vehicle driven by Dennis Sales and Ken Morrow, with Ken saying there was ‘no time to react.’
Adds Hazel: ‘I remember seeing all of it, it was horrifying, horrible.’
Adding to the distress of the victims, toxicology tests revealed the dead woman had consumed MDMA, cannabis and alcohol.
Her friends claim they had no idea about her drug consumption, and they wished to apologise for their role in the horror.
‘From the bottom of our hearts we’re terribly sorry,’ Hazel said
