A badly injured man covered in blood was ignored by passing motorists after crashing his car down an Awakino bank. The driver, travelling alone towards New Plymouth from Hamilton, told his rescuers that his car went over a steep bank just north of the Awakino tunnel on State Highway 3 about 9.30pm on Friday night. He suffered back and neck injuries and struggled for two hours to get himself out of the wreck, up the bank and on to the roadside. But for the next two hours no-one would stop to help him as he tried to flag down the few motorists passing by about midnight. It was nearly four hours after the crash before a truck driver pulled over for the injured man and radioed emergency services for assistance. Taranaki Community Rescue Helicopter staff received the call about 1.30am on Saturday and flew to the site to pick up the man, aged in his 50s, a spokesman said yesterday. The man told them of his distress that no-one would stop for him for about a couple of hours. It was possible the motorists feared for their safety after seeing the man covered in blood at that time of night, the spokesman said. Night vision goggles proved invaluable for the helicopter crew, he said. It would not have been able to be accomplished without night vision goggles, he said. It is amazing how many single strand wires are across the valleys, he said. The patient was taken to Taranaki Base Hospital.
Posted on: Sun, 03 Nov 2013 19:42:02 +0000
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