Baby born after dad sacrificed himself to save wife from caravan fire

A young woman who has been fighting for life in a Brisbane hospital has given birth to a healthy baby after her husband died saving her during a caravan fire.

The couple’s baby boy was born yesterday.

Neighbours heard screams and called Triple Zero just before 11pm. The fire was extinguished and paramedics rushed the couple to hospital.

Mr Whell’s father, Lloyd Bickel, made the heart breaking decision to turn his son’s life support off.

“I’ve lost my boy, and I may lose my daughter-in-law, who’s pregnant,” he said. 

Ms Willis, a mother-of-two, gave birth to a healthy baby after doctors performed an emergency C section at the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital.

Mr Bickel on Tuesday paid tribute to his son and shared the intimate details of the 22-year-old’s final act of heroism, protecting the mother of his children.

“He’s a hero,” Mr Bickel said.

“He threw himself over the top of her to save her and he took most of the burns.”

Both victims were so badly injured they needed to be placed into an induced coma. Mr Whell had burns to 95 per cent of his body.

Fire investigators sifting through what’s left of the caravan believe an exploding E-scooter charger caused the blaze.

“Any of you people that have E-scooters out there, you be careful with these batteries and these chargers,” Mr Bickel said.

“I’ve just lost my son.”

Police Minister Mark Ryan said it had been an emerging trend over a number of years to see the batteries catch fire “from time to time”.