Mum of boys who died after being hit by car makes harrowing admission from her hospital bed

The mother of two boys allegedly killed by an unlicensed driver has made a harrowing confession from her hospital bed.

Shayleen Frail woke from a coma to learn her two sons died after allegedly being hit by Jacob Steven Donn’s out-of-control vehicle in Wellington, central west NSW.

A heartbroken Ms Frail, 34, who suffered spinal and leg injuries, told a friend she wished she had died instead of her two boys Sheldon, six, and Shane Shorey, seven.

Ms Frail and her young sons had just left the Wellington Leisure Centre when they were allegedly hit by a Holden sedan being driven by Donn. 

She was airlifted to Westmead Hospital in Sydney, while her sons died at the scene.

‘Oh my girl… wish it was me and not my babies,’ Ms Frail wrote to the friend on Facebook. 

She had begged to borrow her friend’s phone in hospital so she could thank friends and family for sending her messages of support. 

‘I gotta keep fighting to make my babies proud,’ Ms Frail wrote to another friend.        

The 25-year-old driver allegedly fled the scene following the crash on January 5, which also saw the boys’ family friend Mataya Ah See, 10, lose a leg.

After having plates and screws inserted into her left knee during surgery, Ms Frail stunned doctors by managing to sit up in her hospital chair and smile for a photo while doing a magazine crossword.

‘You can imagine my surprise when I walked in and found her sitting up in a chair not long after surgery. Even the doctors are amazed at her strength and resilience,’ the young mother’s friend Bec Clarke said on Monday night.

Ms Clarke shared a moving photo of the mother smiling beside her hospital bed and revealed she had begged to borrow her phone so she could thank friends and family for sending their well wishes on Facebook. 

Ms Clarke said she ended up having to take the phone off her ‘as she would have been sitting up all night on it.’ 

‘Shay knows the hardest part is yet to come but knows she has the love and support of her family, friends, community and even strangers,’ Ms Clarke added. 

‘She really does want to thank everyone personally for their well wishes and support during this tough time.’ 

Donn sobbed as he was refused bail in Dubbo Local Court on Tuesday, charged with 14 offences including dangerous driving occasioning death.

He had allegedly been doing skids and burnouts in the moments before the crash.

Police prosecutor Michelle Bartlett said in court that he had been deliberately driving poorly and had ‘a clear disregard for the rules’.

‘The actions of the accused … were intentional,’ she said, The Dubbo News reports. 

Donn’s defence lawyer Ivy Johnson told the court her client had taken responsibility for his actions and accepted he was the driver.

She said despite the allegations he had fled the scene, he had not skipped town.

But Magistrate Theresa Hamilton refused his bail application, telling the court that it was fair to consider Donn a potential flight risk.

‘Although he has a very limited history as an adult, it is a matter of concern that he has been dealt with previously for unlicensed driving,’ she told the court.

‘In view of his failure to respect the fact that he has no licence and is not allowed to drive, there is also a risk he will commit further serious offences and endanger the safety of the community.

‘The facts outline dangerous manoeuvres being undertaken by the defendant prior to the impact. It seems to me in all the circumstances there are risks that he would fail to appear if given bail.’

Donn was supported in court by his great-grandmother Dawn Donn, who had taken him in as a young boy and raised him, and his great-aunt Tracey.

Outside court Mrs Donn told The ABC: ‘I love him and I support him. I miss him every minute of every day.’

Mrs Donn last week told Daily Mail Australia her great-grandson had visited her just an hour before the crash. 

‘I’m devastated, I’m so sorry for those boys and Jacob is too. He loves kids,’ she said.

‘I’ve spoken to him on the phone, he’s rung me twice. He’s upset, he’s crying all the time.

‘He was here yesterday about 3pm to 4.30pm… it was like normal, and when he came here yesterday we told him get out of the car, you should not be driving, but he didn’t listen.

‘He’s so sad. He is a kind loving boy, he’s only got us. I might not ever get to see him in this home ever again if he goes to jail.’  

At the scene last Wednesday, just 24 hours after the crash, Joseph Shorey visited and paid an emotional tribute to his two sons.

Mr Shorey had last seen his sons on Monday when they told him they loved him and would see him in just a few weeks upon their return to Queensland, where they lived.

‘I only saw them the day before and they gave me big hugs and cuddles and said: ‘Dad, we love you, we’ll see you on the 17th’,’ Mr Shorey said.

‘Now I’ve lost my two youngest boys.

‘Sheldon was a little show off, always being like ‘look at me, look at me’, but he’s a little cutey – all the girls loved him.’ 

Last Friday, on what would have been Sheldon’s eighth birthday, his family gathered at the Dubbo Pool to celebrate in his memory.

Balloons spelling out his name were released into the sky and his father told those in attendance it was the party he had dreamed of.

In heartwarming footage shared to Facebook, Mr Shorey lit the candles on his late son’s birthday cake while other children in the group sang Happy Birthday.

A GoFundMe page set up to assist Mr Shorey pay for funerals for his two boys has so far seen more than $23,500 donated.