Lucky escape for teenager

A 17-year-old college student walked away with minor injuries from a serious crash on Friday. PHOTOS/ ALEYNA MARTINEZ

ALEYNA MARTINEZ
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A 17-year-old college student was fortunate to avoid serious injury, even death, when his vehicle rolled, trapping him inside, upside down in a ditch.

Police said the teen rolled his Holden Commodore into a ditch on Lees Pakaraka Rd at about 10.30am on Friday.

He was treated at the scene by ambulance staff for minor injuries.

A retired nurse and her husband, who live across the road from the scene, had been working on their property when they saw the car roll during a coffee break. Both dropped their coffees immediately. Having worked as an ED nurse, the woman ran over first while her husband called police.

Approaching the car, and by the look of it, she said she initially feared the person inside was dead.

After hearing him respond to her call however, she said her instincts from working as a nurse kicked in.

He was obviously in shock and had a lot of adrenalin, she said. When the boy tried to move, she told him she would check his vitals first.

“He had all the pulses in the right place,” she said.

The couple then felt comfortable to help him “wiggle” out the back.

The woman said she was relieved there was no smell of petrol and the fact the boy walked away with minor injuries was a testament to the way cars were designed today.

“He wasn’t speeding,” she said. “We’re used to boy racers along here.”

She said it was just an accident and the boy was “very lucky” to have rolled into the ditch the way he did.

“If he had hit a tree or rolled along the flat land it would likely be a very different story,” the retired ED nurse said.