Australian MP Helen Haines loses both legs after alleged targeted attack, but 'her heart and mind are in good shape', says husband
Independent Australian MP Helen Haines has lost both of her legs. Two days after she was struck by a car in an alleged targeted attack near her electorate office in north-east Victoria, surgeons were forced to amputate both legs. Her family says her condition is stable.
Haines, the federal MP for Indi, was hit by a car in Wangaratta on Monday afternoon. She had been in a critical but stable condition since then. On Tuesday surgeons tried to save her right leg, but the seriousness of her injuries meant both legs ultimately had to be amputated.
On Wednesday afternoon at Melbourne's Alfred Hospital, her husband Phil Haines gave an update on her condition. Composed and clear, he said his wife had survived a 'horrendous incident' and faced a long road to recovery.
Phil Haines said: 'The good news in all this is Helen is alive and she's stable. That is the most important thing for our family. Her heart is huge — she is a very compassionate, caring, loving person. And her mind — she has the sharpest intellect.'
He described his 65-year-old wife as a fighter. The couple have been married for nearly 40 years and have three children and two grandchildren. Becoming emotional at the end of his statement, Phil Haines said his wife was a determined person who would do her best, with the family's support and love, to recover.
'We are grateful at this stage that both her heart and her mind are in good shape,' he added. He also asked for donations to the charity Save the Children while his wife recovers.
Police allege Monday's attack was targeted. A man named Brendan Nugent has been charged with dangerous driving causing serious injury, intentionally causing serious injury, and the Commonwealth offence of causing harm to a Commonwealth public official. He faced Wangaratta magistrates court earlier on Wednesday.
Phil Haines was joined by the Governor-General, Sam Mostyn, who said she had relayed news of the incident to King Charles and praised Haines's work as a local representative, including her commitment to improving the standards of public discourse in Australia.
'This violent attack on a much loved and respected sitting member of our federal parliament must be a moment for us to pause and to choose to be better,' Mostyn said.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and politicians from across the federal parliament have expressed shock and anger at the alleged attack. The incident has sparked calls for changes to politicians' safety, with the Australian Federal Police and Asio briefing MPs on the current landscape on Wednesday.
Speaking at a vigil in Wodonga on Wednesday evening, Cathy McGowan, who held the seat of Indi before Haines, paid tribute to her friend. She said the attack was felt not only as violence against one person but as an attack on the political system and on democracy itself.
Victorians go to the polls in a state election next month. McGowan called for that campaign to be conducted in a positive and constructive way, and urged the community not to let violence win — so that all candidates, especially women, know they can run for office and be safe.
