Zachary Bray’s heartbroken parents say they’ll never stop fighting for their “beautiful boy”, 15 months on from his death in the horrifying Hunter Valley bus crash.
Zach’s mum Jacqui was in court last week to see bus driver Brett Button sentenced to 32 years in jail.
However, his dad, Adam, reveals to New Idea that he chose not to attend the proceedings.
The distress of hearing the 40 gut-wrenching victim impact statements was too traumatic to bear.
“I’m as content and satisfied as I can be, as a grieving father, that justice has been served,” Adam says. “But like all those affected by this heinous crime, nothing is going to make the pain of losing our beautiful boy ever go away.”
“Knowing Jacq and our daughter Montana were in the courtroom representing our family is something I’ll always be grateful for.
“I simply couldn’t be there – I attended seven funerals in the aftermath of the crash. I can only hope now that every single person affected by this horrendous tragedy can finally begin the healing process.”
Button, 59, was responsible for last year’s crash which killed 10 people and injured 25 others. The bus was taking 35 wedding guests from the Wandin Valley Estate to Singleton, NSW on the night of June 11.
He pleaded guilty to 35 charges, including 10 charges of dangerous driving causing death.
During the three-day sentencing hearing at Newcastle District Court, Button admitted to taking more than the prescribed amount of the opioid tramadol before the crash.
He accepted that his driving ability was impaired by the medication. He will have to serve a minimum of 24 years before he can be considered for parole.
Button told the court: “I’m ashamed. I hate myself. I want to disappear. I’m sorry to everyone involved. I’ve shamed everyone.”
Adam “purposely did not listen” to anything Button had to say. Instead, he chooses to remember Zach, who was 29, in his own way.
“His words mean absolutely nothing to me,” he says. “I sat on two occasions with my dead son for three hours each time holding his hand, and I made a promise that I would fight for him and his mates all the way.
“I don’t walk around in my son’s aviator sunglasses to look cool, nor wear his R.M. Williams boots he had on the night of the crash – rather, it’s to see the world through his eyes, and that every step and decision I make in the fight for justice, I’m walking in his shoes.”
Adam has now launched a class action through the NSW Supreme Court against Transport NSW and Linq Buslines.
He hopes that everyone who has been impacted will be compensated.
“Read back over all those victims’ statements and it’s clear that every single person in the class action deserves to be cared for and remunerated …as they begin to put their fragmented lives back together,” Adam says.
“I promised my son when I left him in the morgue that day that I will keep up the fight until every innocent victim of this horrific crime will be in a better place than they are now.
“I’m just a dad who couldn’t protect and save our precious Zach. But I’ll do whatever it takes, moving forward, to stop this ever happening again. I hope I did you proud, son.”
