Australian lawmaker Helen Haines has lost both legs after the car attack outside her office, her husband confirms

Phil Haines stood outside The Alfred hospital in Melbourne on Wednesday and gave the update the family had been dreading. "Helen's left leg was amputated on Monday. We had been hoping that her right leg would be saved, but the surgeons had to also remove her right leg," he said. "But the good news in all this is Helen is alive and she is stable." Haines, 65, has been married to Phil Haines for nearly 40 years. She remains in critical condition.

Haines was standing at the rear of her parked car on Monday afternoon, unpacking items from the trunk outside her electorate office in Wangaratta, when a Toyota Land Cruiser drove past her, turned around and rammed her into her vehicle, according to witnesses and police. As bystanders rushed in, a local barber pulled the driver from the car and held him until police arrived. Haines was airlifted to Melbourne for surgery. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has called the attack clearly deliberate, and counter terrorism investigators are among the agencies working the case, though police have not established a motive.

The accused man, Brendan Nugent, 43, of Tarrawingee, a town inside Haines's electorate, faced court on Wednesday on three charges: dangerous driving causing serious injury, intentionally causing serious injury and causing harm to a Commonwealth public official. The charges have not been tested in court, and Nugent is presumed innocent. Governor General Sam Mostyn, who appeared with Phil Haines, said she is keeping King Charles III updated on the lawmaker's condition. Haines, a former nurse and midwife, has represented the rural seat of Indi in northeastern Victoria since 2019.