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Home / Hawkes Bay Today

'Angels were holding on to him': Passerby's quick actions praised as teen survives horror Waipukurau crash

By Christian Fuller
Hawkes Bay Today·
22 Feb, 2020 11:41 PM2 mins to read

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Jobe Koolen, 16, received head trauma, concussion and a bruised lung in this horror single-vehicle crash in Waipukurau. Photo / Supplied

Jobe Koolen, 16, received head trauma, concussion and a bruised lung in this horror single-vehicle crash in Waipukurau. Photo / Supplied

The teen victim of a terrifying crash near Waipukurau is immensely grateful to a passer-by who found him spaced out by the side of the road and rushed him 50km to hospital.

Jobe Koolen was travelling to work when he took a corner too fast and flipped his Honda Civic.

But, that is all the farmer can remember from the crash, which occurred on Arlington Rd about 6.45am on Friday.

"All I remember is getting the car in the morning to drive to work. I don't really remember all that much of the crash," he said.

"I remember driving around a corner and felt the motion of flipping and I was knocked out pretty much from then on.

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Koolen said a passer-by stopped and took him to hospital following the crash. Photo / Supplied
Koolen said a passer-by stopped and took him to hospital following the crash. Photo / Supplied

After the dramatic crash, Koolen was rushed to Hawke's Bay Hospital by a passer-by.

"There was no ambulances, no police, no nothing. A guy just drove past and asked if I was alright and asked if that was my car.

"He told me to jump in and took me all the way to hospital."

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Koolen, who wants to thank the passer-by, was diagnosed with head trauma, a concussion and a bruised lung. He also has a significant number of cuts and bruises all over his body.

"I stopped remembering what exactly happened after I rolled and start remembering again after a guy pulled over and asked if I was alright," he said.

Police said there is "limited information" regarding the crash because of the nature of how it was reported.

A police spokeswoman said it appeared a police unit came across the single-vehicle collision on Arlington Rd/Porangahau Rod at about 7.56pm on Friday.

Jobe's mother, Sandra Koolen, said she will be forever grateful to the man who stopped for her son.

Jobe Koolen, 16, received head trauma, concussion and a bruised lung in this horror single-vehicle crash in Waipukurau. Photo / Supplied
Jobe Koolen, 16, received head trauma, concussion and a bruised lung in this horror single-vehicle crash in Waipukurau. Photo / Supplied

"Man do I thank God he is here. His angels were holding on to him on Friday," she said.

"Thank you so much to the man that found my son and bought him straight to the hospital."

Jobe said he was told by police an "overcorrection" was the reason behind the crash.

"Police said I was going around the corner too fast and tried to correct myself and ended up rolling my car," he said.

The teenager is able to start work next week again.

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