CHAMPION jockey Damien Oliver has rushed to Perth to be at the bed-side of his mother who was seriously injured in a fatal car smash on Tuesday.

Oliver’s mother, Pat, suffered two broken ribs, a fractured arm and a neck injury when the car in which she and a friend were travelling collided with an elderly couple travelling north on the Forrest Highway at Lake Clifton, south of Perth.

The elderly couple died at the scene while the other occupant of the car in which Damien’s mother was travelling was also seriously injured. They were returning from a trip to Bunbury.

Perth newspaper The West Australian reported on its web site thewest.com.au that two vehicles collided at Lake Clifton in the northbound lane on Forrest Highway near the intersection of Old Coast Road on Tuesday afternoon.
Rescuers struggled to free an elderly man and woman trapped in one car but they died at the scene.

Mrs Oliver lost her husband and eldest son in race falls and supported Damien after his serious fall at Moonee Valley in 2005 when he suffered a fractured vertebrae which took him 15 months to recover from.
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