1 00:00:00,280 --> 00:00:02,640 Speaker 1: Now, many of you will be familiar with rad They 2 00:00:02,759 --> 00:00:05,519 Speaker 1: do a lot of work when it comes to road safety, 3 00:00:05,640 --> 00:00:08,879 Speaker 1: and they have just completed production of a thirty minute 4 00:00:08,880 --> 00:00:13,800 Speaker 1: television documentary called what If The Brandon Wilson Story. Now, 5 00:00:13,840 --> 00:00:17,280 Speaker 1: the documentary is going to be broadcast this coming Sunday 6 00:00:17,400 --> 00:00:20,960 Speaker 1: at seven pm on nine Darwin as well as MPAJA. 7 00:00:21,360 --> 00:00:24,000 Speaker 1: It's then going to be broadcast across the nine network 8 00:00:24,079 --> 00:00:28,600 Speaker 1: nationally on Saturday, the fourth of December. It's a story 9 00:00:28,880 --> 00:00:31,720 Speaker 1: about a twenty one year old trade from Darwin. What 10 00:00:31,800 --> 00:00:35,040 Speaker 1: If is narrated by Karl Stefanovic, and it's going to 11 00:00:35,080 --> 00:00:39,120 Speaker 1: focus on the life and the tragic death of Brandon Wilson. 12 00:00:39,800 --> 00:00:42,760 Speaker 1: Brandon was driving a work mate in a company ute 13 00:00:42,880 --> 00:00:45,680 Speaker 1: late one afternoon when he lost control of the vehicle 14 00:00:45,800 --> 00:00:50,800 Speaker 1: and crashed, rolling the ute several times. Now Chris, the passenger, 15 00:00:51,080 --> 00:00:53,559 Speaker 1: had minor injuries and was able to get out of 16 00:00:53,600 --> 00:00:58,120 Speaker 1: the vehicle and then look for Brandon, who had seemingly disappeared. 17 00:00:58,520 --> 00:01:00,960 Speaker 1: He found him a short time life later in the 18 00:01:01,000 --> 00:01:04,600 Speaker 1: long grass, about twenty five meters from the overturned ut. 19 00:01:05,480 --> 00:01:07,360 Speaker 2: Brandon was dying and there was. 20 00:01:07,319 --> 00:01:10,440 Speaker 1: No mobile coverage, so Chris had to try and wave 21 00:01:10,520 --> 00:01:14,520 Speaker 1: down a passing motorist while at the same time administering 22 00:01:14,680 --> 00:01:19,120 Speaker 1: CPR to Brandon. The difference in what was happening was simple. 23 00:01:19,360 --> 00:01:23,080 Speaker 1: Chris was wearing a seat belt and Brandon wasn't. Now 24 00:01:23,160 --> 00:01:26,280 Speaker 1: joining me in the studio this morning are Brandon's parents, 25 00:01:26,440 --> 00:01:30,240 Speaker 1: David and Janet Wilson. I really appreciate you both being here. 26 00:01:30,280 --> 00:01:31,839 Speaker 2: Good morning, My good morning. 27 00:01:32,520 --> 00:01:35,600 Speaker 1: Now I might ask you first, David, can you tell 28 00:01:35,640 --> 00:01:37,360 Speaker 1: me a little bit about your son Brandon. 29 00:01:38,480 --> 00:01:39,920 Speaker 3: Yeah, Look, he was a little bit of a rap 30 00:01:39,959 --> 00:01:41,000 Speaker 3: back at times. 31 00:01:41,040 --> 00:01:43,480 Speaker 4: So, yeah, he had a bit of a troubled life 32 00:01:44,080 --> 00:01:46,520 Speaker 4: doing different things that he shouldn't have done in the 33 00:01:46,560 --> 00:01:50,960 Speaker 4: early parts, and he got onto substances that he shouldn't 34 00:01:51,000 --> 00:01:55,840 Speaker 4: have done. But he found his passion in plumbing and 35 00:01:56,200 --> 00:01:58,440 Speaker 4: that's what really set him on the straight and arrow, 36 00:01:58,600 --> 00:02:02,640 Speaker 4: as well as the birth of his first child. Yeah, 37 00:02:02,760 --> 00:02:05,000 Speaker 4: so Lily changed his life dramatically. 38 00:02:06,120 --> 00:02:08,000 Speaker 2: And so he was a plumber, was he did. 39 00:02:08,000 --> 00:02:10,160 Speaker 1: He do a bit of travel around the place around 40 00:02:10,200 --> 00:02:11,760 Speaker 1: the territory with that job. 41 00:02:11,800 --> 00:02:13,320 Speaker 3: In the territory, he did a lot of travel. 42 00:02:13,520 --> 00:02:15,960 Speaker 4: He went to a number of different communities which he 43 00:02:16,000 --> 00:02:20,880 Speaker 4: absolutely loved, and he thrived on it. He just totally 44 00:02:20,960 --> 00:02:23,040 Speaker 4: enjoyed doing it, so you could see it. He bounced 45 00:02:23,080 --> 00:02:25,360 Speaker 4: around and loved it. 46 00:02:25,639 --> 00:02:29,079 Speaker 1: Yeah, and Janet, his little girl, Lily, how old is 47 00:02:29,120 --> 00:02:29,640 Speaker 1: she now? 48 00:02:29,960 --> 00:02:31,400 Speaker 5: She's five? Now, yep. 49 00:02:32,880 --> 00:02:34,680 Speaker 2: I tell you what you know. 50 00:02:35,000 --> 00:02:37,600 Speaker 1: I know that this documentary and even this process of 51 00:02:37,639 --> 00:02:40,320 Speaker 1: this morning coming in and you know, talking about your 52 00:02:40,320 --> 00:02:43,280 Speaker 1: son and talking about the documentary, it must be a 53 00:02:43,320 --> 00:02:46,200 Speaker 1: really hard one, but one that's obviously very important to 54 00:02:46,240 --> 00:02:46,680 Speaker 1: you both. 55 00:02:47,480 --> 00:02:50,320 Speaker 5: Yeah, it's awfully important. I just want to try and 56 00:02:51,120 --> 00:02:53,720 Speaker 5: not make another family go through the same pain. 57 00:02:56,280 --> 00:03:01,320 Speaker 4: It was inspired by our daughter Samantha, who, as Janet 58 00:03:01,360 --> 00:03:07,239 Speaker 4: was saying, that she didn't want Brandon's life to mean nothing, 59 00:03:07,280 --> 00:03:11,400 Speaker 4: which is the same as us. And so we contacted 60 00:03:11,800 --> 00:03:14,640 Speaker 4: Raid Safety up here and just sort of trickled and 61 00:03:14,639 --> 00:03:18,920 Speaker 4: trickled and we're looking at just a thirty second ad actually, 62 00:03:19,960 --> 00:03:23,239 Speaker 4: but Peter from rad saw that there was too much 63 00:03:23,240 --> 00:03:25,760 Speaker 4: in this just for that, and that's how this documentary developed. 64 00:03:25,800 --> 00:03:31,160 Speaker 4: So after three years of constant filming and talking and. 65 00:03:30,720 --> 00:03:33,480 Speaker 3: We're finally at the point where we can release it now. 66 00:03:34,480 --> 00:03:38,000 Speaker 1: Now I know that all of his family, you guys 67 00:03:38,440 --> 00:03:41,720 Speaker 1: and friends are involved in the documentary, and I think 68 00:03:41,720 --> 00:03:45,120 Speaker 1: that That's such an important part of it, because when 69 00:03:45,240 --> 00:03:47,800 Speaker 1: a life is lost, a life, you know, your son's 70 00:03:47,840 --> 00:03:51,480 Speaker 1: life was lost on the road. People don't realize very often, 71 00:03:51,520 --> 00:03:54,840 Speaker 1: but that impact is felt so broadly, isn't it. 72 00:03:55,760 --> 00:03:59,760 Speaker 4: I think it was even to us the extent of 73 00:03:59,800 --> 00:04:03,560 Speaker 4: the impact. You think you know your children, and at 74 00:04:03,600 --> 00:04:07,760 Speaker 4: the funeral there's probably excessive about five hundred people, and 75 00:04:08,880 --> 00:04:11,880 Speaker 4: a lot of them we didn't know, but Brandon did. 76 00:04:12,240 --> 00:04:15,920 Speaker 5: From all different walks of life and nationalities, and it 77 00:04:16,040 --> 00:04:19,400 Speaker 5: just didn't matter for him. If you're a nice person, 78 00:04:19,480 --> 00:04:21,840 Speaker 5: you're a mate, and he became a. 79 00:04:21,800 --> 00:04:22,520 Speaker 3: Mate for life. 80 00:04:22,720 --> 00:04:25,040 Speaker 1: And that must have made you feel pretty proud as 81 00:04:25,040 --> 00:04:27,680 Speaker 1: well at his funeral, knowing how many lives he'd touched. 82 00:04:28,960 --> 00:04:29,920 Speaker 3: Yeah. Absolutely. 83 00:04:31,600 --> 00:04:33,920 Speaker 2: Can you describe for me or can you tell me. 84 00:04:33,920 --> 00:04:36,520 Speaker 1: Where you were at the moment that you found out 85 00:04:36,920 --> 00:04:38,000 Speaker 1: that you'd lost your son. 86 00:04:39,440 --> 00:04:43,680 Speaker 4: We were in Adelaide, actually down there for Janet to 87 00:04:43,720 --> 00:04:49,479 Speaker 4: get some medical treatment down there, and we actually found Eddie. 88 00:04:49,720 --> 00:04:53,560 Speaker 4: So he died on the fourteenth of August Tuesday, twenty eighteen, 89 00:04:53,600 --> 00:04:58,200 Speaker 4: and we've got a telephone call by one of his 90 00:04:58,320 --> 00:05:04,279 Speaker 4: many girlfriends that he had and said to us, have 91 00:05:04,320 --> 00:05:08,640 Speaker 4: we heard from Brandon and we said no, and she 92 00:05:08,760 --> 00:05:14,919 Speaker 4: turned around and said he's dead, and that was a 93 00:05:14,960 --> 00:05:19,160 Speaker 4: pretty shock moment for us. We just vitually turned down 94 00:05:19,200 --> 00:05:21,760 Speaker 4: the first street. We're on our way to Royal Adelaide 95 00:05:22,440 --> 00:05:24,800 Speaker 4: and turned down the first street on the left, and 96 00:05:26,000 --> 00:05:29,480 Speaker 4: then I just started the process of I rang the 97 00:05:29,520 --> 00:05:32,640 Speaker 4: police and because the police have yet to contact us 98 00:05:32,920 --> 00:05:38,120 Speaker 4: three years later, so I rang them to just find 99 00:05:38,120 --> 00:05:41,719 Speaker 4: out what the what the gay was And yeah, so 100 00:05:42,920 --> 00:05:46,680 Speaker 4: we made our first first thing was to get back 101 00:05:47,080 --> 00:05:51,440 Speaker 4: so and let the other family know. We wanted to 102 00:05:51,480 --> 00:05:55,920 Speaker 4: let certain people know what happened before well the Facebook 103 00:05:55,920 --> 00:05:57,400 Speaker 4: stuff came out and whatever else. 104 00:05:57,440 --> 00:06:01,880 Speaker 1: So what's it been like for you you both since 105 00:06:02,200 --> 00:06:06,640 Speaker 1: that moment? I would imagine incredibly incredibly difficult. I can't 106 00:06:06,680 --> 00:06:10,680 Speaker 1: even honestly, I can't even imagine just how tough. But 107 00:06:10,760 --> 00:06:14,360 Speaker 1: also you know, with when you've got your little granddaughter 108 00:06:14,440 --> 00:06:14,880 Speaker 1: as well. 109 00:06:16,120 --> 00:06:23,080 Speaker 5: Yeah, we don't see her anymore but in Queensland. But yeah, 110 00:06:23,120 --> 00:06:24,120 Speaker 5: it's been very rough. 111 00:06:26,200 --> 00:06:30,480 Speaker 4: Yeah, for the whole family. A lot of it's you know, people, 112 00:06:31,400 --> 00:06:36,640 Speaker 4: it's just not normal. Yeah, you're torn apart, you know, 113 00:06:37,120 --> 00:06:41,880 Speaker 4: everyone in the families. Yeah, we're so just jointed. 114 00:06:41,960 --> 00:06:42,159 Speaker 5: Now. 115 00:06:42,200 --> 00:06:45,400 Speaker 4: I think it's you know, if it ever gets back 116 00:06:45,520 --> 00:06:49,520 Speaker 4: the way it will, it'd be ideal. Yeah, Jane and 117 00:06:49,520 --> 00:06:53,240 Speaker 4: I've had had problems as well, And you know, I 118 00:06:53,279 --> 00:06:55,680 Speaker 4: think I read a stat it was about seventy percent 119 00:06:55,720 --> 00:07:00,800 Speaker 4: of marriages separate after conditions like this, And I think 120 00:07:01,120 --> 00:07:04,080 Speaker 4: for us to still be heret it's a big thing. 121 00:07:04,200 --> 00:07:09,480 Speaker 4: We support ourselves and support each other. Yeah, it really 122 00:07:09,560 --> 00:07:10,320 Speaker 4: is devastating. 123 00:07:11,720 --> 00:07:14,320 Speaker 1: And I know that a huge part of this documentary 124 00:07:14,400 --> 00:07:17,480 Speaker 1: is going to focus on the fact that he wasn't 125 00:07:17,480 --> 00:07:20,240 Speaker 1: wearing a seatbelt and the. 126 00:07:20,240 --> 00:07:23,720 Speaker 2: What if is, you know, is the title. 127 00:07:23,400 --> 00:07:26,400 Speaker 1: Of the documentary, and really what it's going to look into. 128 00:07:27,040 --> 00:07:31,120 Speaker 1: Is that something that you to ask yourselves quite often. 129 00:07:33,680 --> 00:07:35,640 Speaker 4: I think for me it's a father always tries to 130 00:07:35,640 --> 00:07:38,240 Speaker 4: protect his kids. You know, for me, there was a 131 00:07:38,240 --> 00:07:43,520 Speaker 4: bit of guilt there for not protecting him more. But yeah, 132 00:07:43,560 --> 00:07:50,040 Speaker 4: what if as Chris who was this passenger, walked away 133 00:07:50,040 --> 00:07:53,040 Speaker 4: as minor injuries and then had to look for Brandon. 134 00:07:54,200 --> 00:07:55,800 Speaker 4: And that's why I think people should have a look 135 00:07:55,800 --> 00:07:57,920 Speaker 4: at us and next time they get in a car, 136 00:07:58,440 --> 00:08:00,880 Speaker 4: have a look at that side window and just think, 137 00:08:01,280 --> 00:08:03,480 Speaker 4: you know, he wasn't a small kid, but he was 138 00:08:03,520 --> 00:08:06,560 Speaker 4: some big either, but he was trained twenty five meters 139 00:08:06,560 --> 00:08:09,120 Speaker 4: outside that car, so he fitted through that window. 140 00:08:10,600 --> 00:08:12,840 Speaker 3: When you look at it, you get wouldn't be able 141 00:08:12,880 --> 00:08:15,840 Speaker 3: to but you can. Yeah, so he. 142 00:08:18,800 --> 00:08:19,520 Speaker 2: Absolutely. 143 00:08:21,040 --> 00:08:23,960 Speaker 1: Look, I really appreciate you both coming in and speaking 144 00:08:23,960 --> 00:08:26,440 Speaker 1: to us. I would encourage anybody to make sure that 145 00:08:26,480 --> 00:08:30,600 Speaker 1: they do watch the documentary on Sunday night when it 146 00:08:30,640 --> 00:08:31,120 Speaker 1: is being it. 147 00:08:31,280 --> 00:08:34,680 Speaker 2: I know that it's you know, it's it's in primetime. 148 00:08:34,800 --> 00:08:37,520 Speaker 1: It is something that a lot of territorianes are going 149 00:08:37,559 --> 00:08:40,040 Speaker 1: to be able to say. What do you hope that 150 00:08:40,120 --> 00:08:43,600 Speaker 1: people take from watching this documentary on Sunday night and 151 00:08:43,640 --> 00:08:45,319 Speaker 1: hearing your son's story. 152 00:08:45,760 --> 00:08:47,760 Speaker 5: When they get in the car, that they think what 153 00:08:47,840 --> 00:08:51,080 Speaker 5: they're doing, Yeah, and the first thing they do is 154 00:08:51,080 --> 00:08:52,080 Speaker 5: put their seat belt on. 155 00:08:52,679 --> 00:08:55,600 Speaker 4: It takes two seconds put a seat belt on, save 156 00:08:55,679 --> 00:08:57,560 Speaker 4: your life, save misery of everybody. 157 00:08:57,559 --> 00:09:04,080 Speaker 3: You know, what if just prove on. 158 00:09:04,360 --> 00:09:07,760 Speaker 2: Yeah. I really appreciate you both coming in this morning. 159 00:09:07,800 --> 00:09:09,400 Speaker 2: I know it's not an easy process. 160 00:09:09,520 --> 00:09:12,160 Speaker 1: It must be so tough, and I think that what 161 00:09:12,200 --> 00:09:15,240 Speaker 1: you've done is really really brave, not only this morning, 162 00:09:15,280 --> 00:09:18,080 Speaker 1: but in terms of telling your story and going through 163 00:09:18,120 --> 00:09:21,520 Speaker 1: that process of creating the documentary with rad I think 164 00:09:21,559 --> 00:09:24,079 Speaker 1: It's such an important thing to do, especially as a 165 00:09:24,160 --> 00:09:27,400 Speaker 1: mum of kids that are little at the moment, but 166 00:09:27,520 --> 00:09:30,520 Speaker 1: particularly the mum of a little boy who is you 167 00:09:30,559 --> 00:09:33,840 Speaker 1: know who worries about these things as they're getting older 168 00:09:33,960 --> 00:09:38,000 Speaker 1: and the safety of them being in cars, particularly once 169 00:09:38,040 --> 00:09:40,280 Speaker 1: they get to the point where they have their license. 170 00:09:40,320 --> 00:09:42,800 Speaker 1: It's something that I think about already, so I think 171 00:09:42,840 --> 00:09:45,000 Speaker 1: it's so important what you've both done, and I really 172 00:09:45,000 --> 00:09:45,720 Speaker 1: appreciate it. 173 00:09:46,360 --> 00:09:47,200 Speaker 3: No problems with all. 174 00:09:47,440 --> 00:09:49,360 Speaker 2: Thank you, Thanks so much for coming on the show 175 00:09:49,400 --> 00:09:49,880 Speaker 2: this morning.