A chaotic few minutes and a beloved MP’s life in the balance: a community grapples with the unfathomable

It sounded like a car accident – as though someone had unintentionally backed into another vehicle on the quiet main street in the north-east Victorian city of Wangaratta.

Across the road, Cody Lepoidevin had been helping a customer in the High Country RoadHouse – an outdoor store directly across from the office of his local federal MP, Helen Haines.

It was about 3.35pm on Monday. Haines had finished her drive back to the office from a sod-turning event in Mansfield – passing state forests and farmland that make up much of the scenery of the region along the way. As Haines stood at the back of her car, a white Toyota did a U-turn in the street and allegedly rammed into her.

Lepoidevin’s boss, Jason Bacon, says people ran out of the store, expecting to see two cars crash into each other. He says Lepoidevin watched the driver allegedly reverse and hit Haines again.

“Cody, one of the young guys at work, actually initially saw the impact and actually ran over there to help,” Bacon says.

“He heard a car run up the back of another car over there and he walked out, instinctively, thinking it was a car accident.”

Once passersby realised what was happening, Bacon says, “they sprang into action”.

Lepoidevin told his boss about hearing Haines crying out, and how he and two or three customers rushed across the road to help.

Meanwhile, a local barber had just finished with a family who came in for haircuts when he heard the crash just outside the shop.

“A lot of people a lot of people got involved immediately, and they didn’t even check the danger,” Ricky Jefferies says.

“They just ran to help. The driver was still in the car, the car was still on.

“I had no choice but to take him out of the car because it was the right and safest thing to do.”

The next few minutes were chaos. One person jumped in front of the Toyota, while Jefferies ran to the car to get the driver out.

He pulled him from his seat, before wrestling him to the ground, Jefferies says. He says he told the man he couldn’t leave, but tried to calm him while others helped Haines. He also alleges the man had a knife on him, which was thrown away.

Haines was on the bitumen, having suffered serious injuries to both her legs. Haines has since had one leg amputated.

Jefferies – and the others who rushed to her aid – have been hailed as heroes by Australia’s political leader. The driver has been in custody since.

‘Helen is not a person that just would have any enemies’

Bacon arrived at his store 30 minutes after the alleged attack to find customers still hiding at the back.

“Everyone ran when it happened. There were a few people helping out, and those that couldn’t directly help were pretty impacted by it,” he says.

“We closed the door and had some customers in here for about an hour after.”

On Tuesday, Wangaratta remains in shock. The main street is quiet, aside from a large media throng outside Haines’ office. The front door is slowly being obscured by cards and flowers, as community members leave messages hoping for a quick recovery.

On the streets, locals reflect the mood. They’re a tight-knit community where nothing like this happens. The shock is palpable. For the quiet regional city, it’s hard to comprehend.

Matthew Bolton is walking past her office as people lay flowers. He says it is hard to fathom what happened. “It’s surreal that something like this has happened in Wangaratta, of all places,” he says.

“She means so much to the community. She’s done so much over a long period of time without asking much in return.”

Louise Middleton, dressed in a bright orange “Helen Haines for Indi” T-shirt, comes to lay flowers. She had volunteered for Haines in the last two elections.

“My husband said Helen had been hit by a car and I just thought … I was just hoping it was a minor thing. But then as it all sort of unfolded … it’s just mind-boggling,” Middleton says.

“Helen is not a person that just would have any enemies. She’s not a very divisive character and pretty much everyone loves her. So it’s really confusing.”

A bit down the street, Chris Wernert talks of how he couldn’t sleep on Monday night. So he got up, found an old T-shirt and wrote on it: “Wangaratta this is not us.” Wernert was down waving the Australian flag outside Haines’ office after the incident on Monday.

“I saw a guy walking up the street last night,” he says. “This guy in his 60s, carrying an envelope and flowers that he dropped off. There were tears in his eyes.”

Like many in the community, he says he respects Haines. If you don’t share her views, she will still come and talk to you, Wernert says. She is always respectful, always willing to hear a different option.

“We want people to be able to talk to each other,” he says. “Some of their views might be a bit hard to take on board and listen to. But we’ve got to have that. Otherwise we get garbage like this. We don’t want this in Australia. We do not want this.”