‘I saw my patient fly to the ceiling’: GP caught up in Niddrie fatal crash vows to rebuild

Dr Rafid Hamdan was consulting a patient – one of hundreds, if not thousands, in his decades-long career – when everything changed.

He turned briefly to his computer, and then a huge explosion filled the room.

“I heard my receptionist scream, and suddenly I just saw my patient fly to the ceiling,” he said.

“Then everything collapsed in the room.”

Though he was covered in debris, Hamdan was miraculously uninjured.

“I want straight to the patient to stabilise her ... she was screaming and the way she landed was very uncomfortable. At the same time, I was telling bystanders to call an ambulance, call for help.”

Hamdan didn’t find out until later that his practice in Niddrie, in Melbourne’s north-west, had been hit by a car. It had also fatally struck a pedestrian on the footpath outside.

The vehicle came to a stop right at the edge of his desk.

A 63-year-old Maribyrnong man behind the wheel of the Alfa Romeo has been interviewed by police and released, as officers continue their efforts to piece together what made it run off the road at the busy intersection of Hoffman and Keilor Streets.

The male pedestrian who was killed, believed to be in his 40s, has yet to be formally identified.

Hamdan’s patient, a 50-year-old woman from Roxburgh Park, was flown to Royal Melbourne Hospital with serious injuries. She was in a stable condition on Tuesday morning.

Speaking to this masthead a day after the crash, Hamdan said he was still in shock, but that his patient was doing well. She had been a patient of his for many years.

“My manager has spoken to her and she’s improving. I don’t know exactly her injuries.”

Hamdan, who is the only doctor at the clinic, has vowed to rebuild.

“I’ve been a GP for a long time, and this accident isn’t going to stop me from doing what I love to do,” he said.

A day on from the crash, Hamdan said he was “happy to be alive”.

“The clinic is completely lost. We had been open there for four months, and we had a lot of good feedback from patients. When that is suddenly taken away from you, it’s really, really hard.”

Hamdan also said his heart went out to the family of the man who died, whom he did not know.

On Tuesday, locals walking past the scene were stunned. Some wondered aloud how the car managed to get from the road to the clinic when a tram shelter, several poles and a garden bed lay in between. Others laid bouquets of flowers in honour of the dead man outside the boarded-up entrance to the practice.

“Your passing has rocked our community” and “May you rest in peace” read handwritten messages left with the flowers.

One of those who laid flowers, Geraldine Maguire, was on her morning walk with her dog when the crash occurred.

“There was a girl who was hysterical and two girls were consoling her, and you just look up when something like that happens,” she said.

“I was thinking, ‘What is it? Has she broken up with her boyfriend or something?’ Then I stopped, and two guys there said a car had gone through [the shopfront] and there’s a guy hanging out the window.”

Maguire said while she didn’t know any of the people involved in the incident, she wanted to leave flowers to acknowledge the life of the dead man and the fact that his family and friends are in mourning.

“Five minutes earlier and it could have been me.”

Anyone who witnessed the crash or has footage or information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or www.crimestoppersvic.com.au.

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