Lithgow crash victim had spoken ominously of the ‘shadow of death’ – as his family watches for siblings still fighting for life
A haunting sermon from one of the two Sydney fathers killed in the horror disaster at Lithgow has resurfaced.
In the sermon, which David Drozd, 49, recorded during the Covid pandemic, he spoke about ‘the shadow of death’ and ‘meeting the Lord face to face’.
Mr Drozd, a passionate Bible speaker and road safety engineer, was killed in the five-car crash at 12.50pm on Friday, which left 15 others in hospital.
Among those rushed to hospital were his children, including two who were seriously injured.
Jason McMahon, 42, was also killed in the multi-car collision on the Great Western Highway at Wallerawang, west of the Blue Mountains.
Mr Drozd was on his way to Dubbo, where his eldest daughter Miriam Gray lives, with his wife Nicole, 41, and five of their children aged from 5 to 15, when Mr McMahon’s Isuzu D-Max crashed into collided with their Kia Carnival.
Details about Mr Drozd have since emerged, including revelations that he would become a grandfather for the first time in the new year and that he was a lay minister at Central Mountains Baptist Church.
Passionate lay preacher David Drozd (above with his wife Nicole) delivered a moving sermon talking about the ‘shadow of death’ and ‘meeting the Lord face to face’
Mr Dozd’s daughter, Miriam, and son-in-law Jacob Gray posted a tribute and a call to prayer “for our brothers and sisters who remain in critical circumstances.” Family are now all together at Westmead’
In a March 2020 sermon delivered at the church, located in Hazelbrook in the lower Blue Mountains, Mr Drozd revealed his deep knowledge of Scripture.
In the 40-minute lesson on the Book of Revelation, he said he was a born-again Christian and described how he tried to teach his “atheist brother” about the teachings of the Bible.
Mr Drozd used Covid as an allegory saying that God or Jesus could “shine light in the darkness and the shadow of death” and urged his listeners not to be afraid.
“We’ll see him on our last day,” he said.
‘Do not be afraid. When we see the Lord…face to face, when we walk with Him, there is no need to fear.”
Mr Drozd’s son-in-law, Jacob Gray, posted on Facebook that the family were now all together at Westmead Hospital.
“Please continue to pray for our brothers and sisters who remain in critical circumstances,” he wrote.
a GoFundMelaunched to raise money on behalf of Miriam Gray ‘to assist (David’s) family at this very difficult time’, has raised over $27,000 to date.
Mr Drozd is remembered as a respected traffic engineer who wrote a report for Penrith City Council seven years ago about the dangers on the same road where he died.
NSW Police were seen at the scene of the five-car crash that left two fathers dead on Friday
He also led the congregation’s Bible study class.
Mr Drozd started his own road traffic consultancy in 2012 and was described by one mourner as ‘an absolute gentleman and passionate road safety campaigner’.
It was revealed that the other victim, Mr. McMahon, was also a loving father who was about to marry the love of his life
His son Connor, 19, paid a heartbreaking tribute on Saturday evening.
‘I have lost the man I always wanted to become. “He was the kind of person who would drop everything to help someone,” he said in a statement.
‘I’m going to miss my father every minute.
“He wasn’t allowed to see me starting a family of my own.”
Mr. McMahon had spent time dirt biking in Sunny Corner, a well-known trail biking area 20 miles west of where the accident occurred.
Jason McMahon (above) 42 was remembered as a loving father who was planning to marry his fiancée and returning from a dirt bike ride in Sunny Corner
The harrowing scene on the highway after the five-vehicle crash that killed two fathers and seriously injured five people, including two of David Drozd’s children
He was returning to Sydney with family friend Declan Jones when his eastbound car carrying a motorcycle trailer collided with a westbound Toyota Hilux.
That Toyota then hit a Hyundai Tuscan, causing it to be thrown off the highway and the occupants trapped.
Mr McMahon’s Isuzu then struck the Kia Carnival driven by Mr Drozd head-on, trapping the father-of-nine who died at the scene.
A Nissan Patrol towing a caravan then collided with the Isuzu’s trailer.
A special one GoFundMe A crowdfunding page for Mr McMahon’s fiancée and children was set up late on Friday evening.
“Sadly, the McMahon family has lost a great role model in their lives,” it read.
“His family has lost a son, a father, a fiancée and more.
“The whole purpose of this GoFundMe is to help his fiancée and the rest of his family, to raise money to pay for any funeral expenses.”
How the deadly crash unfolded
1. Jason McMahon and a family friend were driving east on the Great Western Highway in Wallerawang, near Lithgow, at 12.50pm on Friday when his Isuzu D-Max collided with a westbound Toyota Hilux with four occupants
2. The impact resulted in the Toyota Hilux hitting a Hyundai Tuscan, throwing it off the highway and trapping the three occupants, including a man aged 55, who was later flown to John Hunter Hospital in Newcastle
3. Mr McMahon’s Isuzu D-Max then collided head-on with a Kia Carnival driven by David Drozd, whose wife and five of his children were injured and taken to hospital. Both Mr McMahon and Mr Drozd were trapped by the impact and died at the scene
4. A Nissan Patrol, towing a caravan traveling behind Mr McMahon, then collided with the Isuzu trailer. Four occupants of the Nissan Patrol were examined at the scene
The fatal crash involving five cars happened at Wallerawang on the Great Western Highway near Lithgow, west of the Blue Mountains, at 12.50pm on Friday.