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Three children, all under the age of six, were able to survive for days in the Western Australia outback after a car crash killed their parents, according to reports.
Jake Day, 28, and Cindy Braddock, 25, were traveling from their home in Northam, 50 miles east of Perth, to their home town of Kondinin for Christmas before the crash, according to a report in The Guardian newspaper.
The family was traveling in the early hours of Christmas morning to spend the day with the children's grandmother, who lived in Kondinin.
However, a crash occurred that resulted in the Land Rover they were driving being turned upside down and the wreckage being hidden from clear view, beside a remote Western Australian road.
After the crash, the couple's five-year-old daughter managed to unbuckle the seatbelt of her one-year-old brother, freeing him.
Along with their two-year-old brother, the trio were forced to wait in sweltering 86 degrees Fahrenheit heat for 55 hours, alongside their deceased parents, before they were eventually rescued by family friends.
The family was reported missing when they failed to arrive on Christmas Day and Braddock's sister, Helen, took to Facebook in hopes of getting more information.
The exact circumstances that resulted in the crash are being investigated by the police. A Kondinin shire councillor, Bruce Browning, said he couldn't believe no one had noticed the car wreck and stopped to investigate the scene.
Browning said: "There's hundreds of cars on the road over that period and the vehicle was not that far off the road, so it is just beyond belief that no one discovered them before the family went looking for them. It is an absolute miracle that they survived."
Once rescued the three children were flown to a hospital in Perth and remain there in a stable condition.
A GoFundMe page has since been created to pay for any medical treatment the children may require as well as any future needs.
The fundraisers, Casey Guyer and Kailee Wallace, expressed sorrow at the situation but said it was a miracle that all three children were able to survive.
"I am raising funds for the Children of Jake Day and Cindy Braddock who were involved in a fatal car accident in Western Australia on Christmas morning, with their three children," the page reads.
"Devastatingly Jake and Cindy did not survive the accident but an angel was looking over the kids as it was a miracle their beautiful babies survived for over two days in Australian outback before being rescued.
"The children are currently in hospital with family and are all doing okay considering the circumstances.
"All funds raised will help the family of Jake and Cindy with the costs of funerals and the remaining will go to the children to help with any medical and life expenses."
A follow up message on Wednesday thanked those who had already donated and said it would make a "world of difference" to the children.
Newsweek has contacted the Western Australia Police Force for comment.
About the writer
Gerrard Kaonga is a Newsweek U.S. News Reporter and is based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on U.S. ... Read more