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"I'm sorry."
These are the words Alexander Louis-Renshaw has repeated over and over again to police, to the court, and most importantly, to the Wilson family, whose lives he changed forever last September.
The 20-year-old, drunk after downing several beers at a friend's birthday party, barely remembers the moments before his car careered through a steel fence at the Kendalls Beach Caravan Park, Kiama on September 1 and ploughed into the Wilsons' tent.
Dad Bruce, mum Gill, and children Emily, 7, and Oscar, 4, were asleep inside after a day of celebrations with extended family when they were hit by the vehicle and dragged nearly eight metres.
Oscar was pinned under the Ford Falcon, which had to be lifted to free him.
He and Emily were taken to Wollongong Hospital for treatment for abrasions and bruising. Their father was also taken to hospital with a fractured pelvis.
Mrs Wilson, who received the most serious injuries, was airlifted to St George Hospital in a critical condition with rib and vertebrae fractures and spinal injuries.
Facing Wollongong District Court yesterday, Louis-Renshaw said his fateful choice to get behind the wheel of his car that evening and the lasting impacts of that split-second decision would stay with him forever.
The court heard he had written to the family to offer his apologies, saying he was "disgusted" with himself for what he had done.
The Wilsons wrote back, extending "a humbling level of grace and forgiveness".
"It's clear they are compassionate and forgiving human beings," presiding judge Paul Conlon said.
The court heard it was never Louis-Renshaw's intention to drive that night.
Knowing he would be drinking, he had planned to stay overnight in his car, even packing a sleeping bag to ward off the chill.
But shortly before 10.50pm, Louis-Renshaw claims he was threatened by fellow partygoers, with one telling him he was about to "get bashed".
Worried for his safety, he left the party and headed towards his car, planning to move it out of the caravan park to a nearby carpark where he would sleep off his big night.
But he lost control of the vehicle as he hit the accelerator, sending it ploughing through the fence and into the Wilsons' tent.
"It was the offender's extreme level of intoxication that rendered him totally incapable of ... applying the brake," Judge Conlon said yesterday when handing down his judgment.
"In his intoxicated state, [Louis-Renshaw's] vehicle became a lethal weapon.
"It was a miracle no-one was killed."
Louis-Renshaw was sentenced to a minimum nine months' jail for two counts of aggravated dangerous driving occasioning grievous bodily harm and causing bodily harm by misconduct in a motor vehicle.
His mother, who was in court to hear the sentence, broke down in tears when it was read out.