Baby saved

By Callan Date
A NARRE Warren South pregnant mother of nine picked up her baby son only seconds before a car crashed through their bedroom window and into his cot on Tuesday.
Isabel Selio, 33, explained their lucky escape and how the crying of her 15-month-old son possibly saved his life.
Ms Selio said she went to get her son from his cot after he woke up at about 7.50am.
Seconds later an out of control car careered through their Norfolk Drive front yard and smashed into the bedroom window.
“I was lifting him up from the cot and just as I did that I was winded from the cot hitting me,” Ms Selio said.
She said she was thankful only five of her nine children were at home at the time of the collision – her other four children were at their aunt’s.
“I didn’t know it was a car when it first happened – I thought it was a tree.”
Ms Selio, who is almost five months pregnant, said she was unhurt in the incident.
“The children were pretty upset but they are starting to calm down now. They are all all right,” she said.
The family is currently staying at a local motel while their insurance company organises the required work to make the house stable again.
“We are not sure when we will be back in the house,” she said.
Neighbour Sue Friend was one of the first on the scene and said the sound of the screaming children was deafening.
“I was basically sitting on my back veranda and I could hear this noise of a car going really fast.
“It sounded like he had hit another car and as soon as I heard the kids screaming I started to bolt towards the house. It was terrible hearing all the kids crying,” Ms Friend said.
“I said to the driver ‘were you going a bit fast?’ and he said he was running a bit late for work,” she said.
Ms Friend said she stayed with the driver and comforted him while another neighbour attended to the children in the house.
The driver of the car was taken to The Alfred hospital and was released later that day.
Narre Warren Police are continuing to investigate the crash.
Although this crash looks to have been an accident, residents say there is a general problem with reckless driving in the area.
Ms Selio’s next-door neighbour Selwyn Donoghue said reckless driving was a common sight along Norfolk Drive and other surrounding streets in the Narre Warren South area.
Motorists continue to hoon down the street and put the lives of pedestrians, residents and other road users in danger, he said.
“You just have to have a look at the road and see all the burn out marks everywhere,” Mr Donoghue.
Casey councillor Steve Beardon has also joined the chorus of concern – saying speeding in suburban streets was the most common complaint he heard from residents.
“Many families are so concerned they are considering moving and do not allow their children to play out front of their homes, fearing a wayward car will cause an accident.
“Council owns all local roads and we have a responsibility to do all we can to ensure they are safe and more needs to be done,” Cr Beardon said.