‘I'm not going to let it stop me’: Crash survivor Nicholas Tadros’ incredible return to the sky

Back in the sky that almost took everything from him, but this time he’s in control.

Fourteen-year-old Nicholas Tadros, a survivor of one of Australia’s worst aviation disasters, has taken his first ever flying lesson over Sydney - a remarkable achievement for a boy who lost his mother and his leg in a horrific helicopter crash just four years ago.

“I’ve always said since hospital, I’m not going to let it stop me. And it didn’t,” Nicky said.

With his father Simon’s support, Nicky climbed into the cockpit for his first flying lesson, transforming the sky that once carried unimaginable pain into a place of possibility.

“Obviously, I was really anxious and mixed feelings with him going back up in the sky,” Simon said.

Nicky was 10 years old when he climbed aboard a helicopter with his mum, Vanessa, for what was meant to be a five-minute joy flight over the Gold Coast.

Less than a minute after take-off, their SeaWorld helicopter collided with another. Four people were killed, including his mother.

The journey to this hangar has been gruelling with three months in hospital, thirty operations, and years of rehabilitation. Nicky had every reason never to fly again.

“Something I don’t think many people feel. I just looked at him and I said, you know what, Nicky? I’m proud of you,” Simon said.