TRAGEDY: Brother and sisters David Greening, Michelle McDonald and Samantha Nancarrow outside the Dunolly home of their father, Allan Greening, 75, who died in a car accident last month on the Dunolly-Maryborough Road. Picture: Brendan McCarthy
WHEN Allan Greening took the wheel on Thursday, February 21, he wasn’t feeling the best.
The 75-year-old was on his weekly trip to the Maryborough shops with a woman in her 40s, with whom he shared his Dunolly home of 34 years.
Allan said to his companion that he wasn’t feeling the best, but would be all right to drive to Dunolly to get cat food.
Unbeknown to Allan, he had an enlarged heart and high blood pressure, which ended up being a deadly combination.
The well-known Dunolly local experienced a medical problem when driving on the Dunolly-Maryborough Road and veered onto the other side of the road, crashing into another vehicle.
Allan’s 1989 Holden Astra crumpled on impact, killing himself and severely injuring his companion, who is still recovering in The Alfred and will stay for rehabilitation.
He was the fourth person to die on central Victorian roads this year.
The man travelling in the other vehicle escaped with only minor injuries and has since been discharged from hospital.
A dog, which never left Allan’s side, suffered some bruising but survived the crash.
Allan’s children David Greening, from Melbourne, and Michelle McDonald and Samantha Nancarrow, from Canberra, were back in Dunolly last week for his funeral on Friday.
David explained the moment he found out his father, an amateur radio enthusiast and motorcyclist, had become another victim of the roads.
“My best mate’s daughter called and asked if I had heard from my dad because there had been an accident and it looked like my dad’s car.
“As that happened the police turned up at my door and I ran outside and the first thing I asked them was, ‘He’s dead, isn’t he?’”
David said he did not know about his father’s medical condition, and Allan probably did not know either.
“You just don’t know when something like this is going to happen,” he said.
“But I would say to people that if they don’t feel well, don’t get behind the wheel. Go to a doctor.”
The family said the shock of the crash was still sinking in, but they were appreciative of the support they had received from the community.
“Both of my sisters and I are so grateful that the gentleman in the other vehicle will be OK and so will the lady that was travelling in the car with my father,” David said.
“The community has been a great help and we would like to thank the emergency crews for doing what they did.”
