A woman has been charged after the car she was driving careered off a cliff and plummeted into the surf, after allegedly hitting a mother carrying a baby, at one of Newcastle's most popular beaches.
The 46-year-old was taken to John Hunter Hospital after the incident on Thursday morning, where she remained under police guard.
She was arrested in her hospital bed on Friday and charged with driving in a dangerous manner causing grievous bodily harm.
The woman was then refused bail in a bedside hearing and will face court next week, police told the Newcastle Herald.
Police said the 46-year-old had suffered multiple fractures in the crash and remained in a serious condition in hospital as of Friday afternoon.
Three people miraculously escaped with their lives after the Wallsend woman's Volkswagen Golf ploughed through a fence and off the cliff edge at the bottom of the Bar Beach carpark, landing several metres below in shallow water, hitting a 40-year-old mother carrying her infant child on the beach.
A senior Hunter paramedic said it was a "miracle" that no-one was seriously injured in the ordeal.
The 40-year-old woman was taken to John Hunter Hospital with suspected leg fractures. Police said the 18-month-old "narrowly avoided being hit" by the car.
The Newcastle Herald reported on Thursday that the child escaped serious injuries.
The child's father was in the water and saw the incident unfold, according to police. He was unavailable for comment at the time of publication.
The mother and child remained in John Hunter Hospital on Friday in a stable condition, Hunter New England Health confirmed.
The driver was originally reported as being a 32-year-old woman but police have since clarified that she was 46 years old.
Newcastle police Chief Inspector Gerard Lawson told reporters after the incident on Thursday the driver was "very lucky".
"I've seen people not survive a fall like that," he said.
"After 11 years in the crash unit, I'm very surprised that we've got these minor injuries involved."
Hunter ambulance Inspector Jason Saper said at the time the driver was "very lucky to be alive" and that it was "a miracle that no-one was seriously injured".
The driver will face Newcastle Local Court on October 1.
IN THE NEWS:
- $7.25 million sale at 38 John Parade, Merewether sets new record for Newcastle
- Car slams into unit complex at Glendale, residents escape injury
- Mark Latham questions in Upper House why Black Lives Matter, gender equality and Adam Goodes film was shown at Maitland High School
- Car plunges off cliff face at Bar Beach in Newcastle
