The scene of the accident.
A sleeping family was badly injured when a drunk driver ran over their tent in a Kiama caravan park, dragging them nearly eight metres and pinning a four-year-old boy under the vehicle, a court has heard.
Alexander Louis-Renshaw of Woonona had downed 10 beers when he drove through a fence and ploughed into the family's tent, leaving the terrified parents and their two young children with serious injuries.
The 20-year-old pleaded guilty to the drunken incident in Wollongong Local Court yesterday, several months after he sent an apologetic letter to the family, noting he was "disgusted with himself".
Louis-Renshaw had been drinking heavily at a party at Kendalls Beach Caravan Park on September 1 last year when he jumped into his car just before 11pm.
He accelerated and drove through a steel fence, colliding with a parked car nearby.
His vehicle then ran over the family's tent, dragging the parents and their two children, aged four and seven, before the car came to rest in a garden bed, draft facts before the court said.
Fellow campers ran to the car and saw the boy pinned on the ground beneath a tyre.
Several men managed to lift the car off the boy while Louis-Renshaw was restrained.
Multiple emergency service vehicles rushed to the scene and all the family members were treated.
The 46-year-old father and his children were taken to Wollongong Hospital while the mother, 43, was flown to Sydney's St George Hospital in a critical condition.
The woman had a collapsed lung and several rib and spinal fractures, which required surgery, the court was told.
Dr Mary Langcake noted the woman could have died from her injuries.
The man suffered a fractured pelvis, requiring crutches to walk, while the children had abrasions, burns and lacerations.
Louis-Renshaw blew a 0.176 reading at the scene, telling police he had drunk several beers before the incident.
He admitted to driving the car and causing the collision, expressing remorse for his actions.
He pleaded guilty yesterday to two counts of aggravated dangerous driving occasioning grievous bodily harm and causing bodily harm by misconduct in a motor vehicle, along with a charge of high-range drink-driving.
He will appear in Wollongong District Court for sentence on March 15.