EXCLUSIVE: The daughters of a Qantas worker who was seriously hurt after falling from an airbridge are pleading for answers.
While carrying out her usual duties, Qantas customer service worker Olivia Hristovska experienced an unexpected incident when she tumbled through a hole in an airbridge at Sydney Airport in the previous month.
The 51-year-old suffered lifelong injuries.
Footage obtained by 9News captured the moment of the accident.Â
Peering through the gaps of the airbridge wall, Olivia Hristovska steps closer, unaware of the gap below.
A co-worker sees her fall, but is helpless. It was a six-metre drop.
For the past five weeks, it’s been touch and go for the 51-year-old customer service worker.
“We’re living this with her through every emotion, through every downfall,” Olivia’s daughter Monique said.
After the accident, Olivia was placed in an induced coma and rushed to the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital.
“We received the call saying, ‘Your mum has had a fall’, with limited information,” Monique said.
“Everything just froze over.”
Monique and her sister, Sienna, said they were left in the dark from the outset.
“No one actually told us what had happened,” Monique said.
“I found out from other doctors and then the media.”
But the release of the video tonight will help shed some light.
Olivia suffered severe head injuries, broke her clavicle, pelvis and several ribs, and had a collapsed lung and fractured spine.
“It was traumatic, it was daunting, it was being in the unknown.”
The mother of two has since been discharged, but may never fully recover.
“Bones can heal, but the brain, you don’t know,” Monique said.
“She’s lost her whole identity.”
Now, Olivia’s full-time carers, her daughters, are calling for more support and transparency.
They said to this day, they don’t know what went wrong.
Today, when contacted by 9News, Qantas gave no comment, and Safework could only say “an investigation is ongoing”. It could take up to two years.
“I’ve had so many moments of anger, but I am just so grateful she is here,” Monique said.
