Doctors have amputated both of Australian federal lawmaker Helen Haines’ legs as she remains in critical condition after being repeatedly hit by a car in an apparent act of political violence, her husband said Wednesday.

The 65-year-old independent politician is receiving treatment in a Melbourne hospital where she was flown by helicopter.

Phil Haines, her husband, gave the family’s first public comments on her condition since she was hit by a Toyota Land Cruiser SUV in her hometown of Wangaratta on Monday (October 19, 2026), speaking hours after a man accused of running her over made an initial appearance in court.

Husband says Haines has lost both her legs

Ms. Haines’ husband said her left leg was amputated on Monday (October 19, 2026) and her right leg was amputated on Wednesday (October 21, 2026) after doctors abandoned hope of saving it.

“The good news in all this is that Helen is alive and she’s stable. That is the most important thing for our family,” the husband told reporters in Melbourne.

“We are grateful and thankful that at this stage, both her heart and her mind are in good shape,” he said.

He added that their 40th wedding anniversary will be in November.

Man accused of attack makes first appearance in court

Earlier Wednesday, Brendan Nugent, a 43-year-old man from nearby Tarrawingee, appeared in the Wangaratta Magistrates’ Court charged with intentionally causing serious injury, dangerous driving causing serious injury and causing harm to a federal official.

Mr. Nugent didn’t apply for bail or enter a plea. He will remain in custody until his next court appearance in February. Police have yet to determine a motive.

Mr. Nugent’s lawyer Chirag Patel told Magistrate Allison Vaughan that his client was suffering from potential mental health issues but had never been diagnosed with any mental health problem.

Mr. Patel said Mr. Nugent suffered from a neurological condition, idiopathic transverse myelitis, and a concussion. The lawyer did not explain how Mr. Nugent had been concussed.

The rare condition damages the spinal cord’s protective myelin sheath and disrupts nerve signals between the brain and body. This leads to rapid muscle weakness, sensory loss, pain, and bladder and bowel dysfunction, according to the Cleveland Clinic medical center.

Witnesses say the driver rammed his victim, pinning her against her own car before reversing and ramming her a second time.

Australia worries about balancing security with keeping politicians accessible

The well-regarded lawmaker’s plight has shocked Australians, as political violence is uncommon in the country and politicians are highly accessible to the public. Most lawmakers are not accompanied by security details and go about their work and personal lives on their own.

Senior opposition lawmaker James Paterson on Wednesday called for a review of lawmakers’ personal security in response to the alleged crime.

“The reality is that Australian parliamentarians by global standards are uniquely accessible to the public and that’s a good thing,” Mr. Paterson told Australian Broadcasting Corp.

“But we … can’t have a situation where shocking attacks like this take place because that will fundamentally change our democracy forever if it becomes a serious risk to your life to be a member of parliament,” Mr. Paterson added.

But Prime Minister Anthony Albanese urged lawmakers to continue to engage openly with the public despite worsening animosity within the community.

“We want to make sure that people can feel as much comfort as possible that everything’s being done to maximise security,” Mr. Albanese told News24.

“I think parliamentarians across the board are determined to make sure that we can continue to engage as we need to in this great democracy of ours,” Mr. Albanese added. “That interaction is really important in our democracy.”

Australian barber Ricky Jefferies has been hailed as a hero for running out of his store to detain ​a man who authorities allege deliberately drove a car into lawmaker Helen Haines ‌in the small town of Wangaratta, an incident that has ​shocked the country.

Mr. Jefferies had just finished haircuts for a ⁠young family on Monday (October 19, 2026) when he said he heard a “loud bang” outside his shop and realised the driver of a Toyota LandCruiser had struck Haines, leaving her ‌badly injured.

“It was crazy, I just ran out the front to see what was happening,” he told reporters on Tuesday (October 20, 2026).

He ‌said he ran to assist the well-respected local MP, grabbing ‌a ⁠knife from the alleged attacker’s pocket and pulling him out ⁠of the car.

“He did have a knife. He didn’t pull it out. I just wasn’t comfortable with his movements, and so I basically just took it out of his ​pocket and threw it away,” ‌he said.

Mr. Jefferies said he then held the man down until police arrived.

“I just leant over him and once he was on the ground and he was no longer a threat, I just stood ‌with him and I told him that he can’t leave,” he ​said.

Ms. Haines, 65, was airlifted to hospital where she underwent surgery overnight. She remains in a critical condition.

Early investigations ⁠suggested the driver, identified as a 43-year-old man, performed a U-turn before hitting Ms. Haines as she was loading or unloading things from the trunk of ‌her car, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said. Counterterrorism authorities are among the multiple agencies involved in the investigation.

While police have given no motive for the alleged attack, the involvement of counterterrorism investigators has raised alarm that it could have been an act of political violence, which is rare in Australia.

Mr. Jefferies, whose shop is next door to Haines’ electorate office around ‌three hours’ drive northeast of Melbourne, described the former midwife as a “genuine, kind person”.

Mr. Albanese ​praised Mr. Jefferies’ intervention, calling him a hero.

“At this dark and terrible time, an element of light is the fact that ⁠a Good Samaritan, someone rushed to Helen’s defence in Wangaratta, put themselves potentially ⁠at risk by doing so. And that person is a hero today,” Mr. Albanese said in an interview with the Nine network’s “Today” ‌show.

Mr. Jefferies downplayed the praise.

“I don’t think I’m a hero. I think that I just was a person who had an opportunity ​to intervene in a safe-ish sort of way,” he said.