Queensland teenager left partially blind in crash that killed his best mate in Bells Creek on the Sunshine Coast

A Queensland teenager who lost his best friend in a horrific car accident will now spend the rest of his life partially blind as a result of the crash.

Jet Dennien, 16, could never have imagined a trip home from McDonald’s with his best mate would change his life forever.

He and “soul brother” Broc Dawson, 17, had just finished a shift at a pizza shop near where Jet lived just outside of Caloundra when they made the last-minute decision to treat themselves to an apple pie on September 14.

The fast food restaurant was only a five-minute trip away, so the pair jumped in the car and headed towards Bells Creek.

It would be the last thing Jet ever did with his best friend.

As the teens were driving home along Central Ave, just minutes from Jet’s home, they were struck by a motorbike that had allegedly run a red light at the intersection of Aura Blvd.

Broc was killed in the crash, along with the 32-year-old man riding the motorbike.

Jet was injured in the collision and pulled from the wreckage by a stranger before being rushed to Sunshine Coast University Hospital.

The teenager suffered a fractured shoulder and a severe eye injury.

His left eye had been completely pierced by shards of glass from the wreckage, resulting in complete loss of vision.

Glass went through about 80 per cent of his right eye causing partial vision impairment, close family friend Ranae Brady told 7NEWS.com.au.

“He still has vision in that eye at this point, he has no depth perception so things like picking a tissue out of a box or picking up a glass of water, he can’t do without a great deal of frustration and everything’s still very blurry and fuzzy,” she said.

It’s hoped with future surgeries the vision in his right eye will improve, however he will never be able to see of out of his left eye.

Surgeries have ensured Jet has been able to keep the eye, with slings holding it in place.

While the eye itself has been saved, Brady said this could change at any point.

“It may last a day. It may last five years. It may last 30 years,” she said.

“In three months if all goes to plan they’re going to operate again and fit him with an artificial lens across that eye.

“But he’ll have the slings and that in place forever.”

Until Jet has been fitted with the artificial lens, his eyes must be shielded from direct light.

Brady said she spent the weekend helping Jet’s parents board up the windows and install block-out curtains so that the teenager could move around comfortably at home.

Having been involved in a traumatic car accident where he lost his best friend and half of his vision, Brady said the teenager had his “ups and downs”.

“He’s getting through day by day,” she said.

“While he was in hospital he was .... kept highly medicated just because of the pain he’s in in his shoulder.

“He’s receiving counselling regularly since this has happened, so he’s happily ... talking through his feelings.”

The pair first met in 2020 when Broc was appointed as Jet’s “buddy” when he changed schools.

They immediately formed a close bond and being in Year 11, they had both discussed travel plans for when they finished school.

“Between the two of them, they were just planning to work together, be lifelong friends, raise a family together down the track,” Brady said.

With Jet facing a long recovery and a future of continued medical expenses, Brady has set up a fundraiser to help support his family.

Brady said she was astonished by the level of support the family had received following the accident.

“The people who don’t know them from a bar of soap ... have stepped up to the plate, offered anything and everything,” she said.

‘Kind, generous soul’

In a post on social media Broc’s mother, Krystn Dawson, said her son “touched many people’s hearts” in his short life.

“My son was a kind, generous soul who had his whole life ahead of him, he wanted to be a pilot and was well on the way to doing this,” she said.

“He had not long gotten his licence and was so excited to be able to go out with his mates without having mum tag along as the third wheel.”

Concerned friends and community members have started a petition on Change.org to have red light cameras installed at the intersection “to prevent future tragedies” from happening, and has already garnered over 600 signatures.

A GoFundMe has also been set up to assist the family with funeral costs and to help “navigate this painful chapter and celebrate the remarkable life of a young man who touched so many lives”.