Hawkes Bay Today
  • Hawke's Bay Today home
  • Latest news
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology

Locations

  • Napier
  • Hastings
  • Havelock North
  • Central Hawke's Bay
  • Tararua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Napier
  • Hastings
  • Dannevirke
  • Gisborne

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Hawkes Bay Today

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

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

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save
    Share this article
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.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
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."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

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.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
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.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Save
    Share this article

Latest from Hawkes Bay Today

Hawkes Bay Today

8000 runners, records and a sprint finish: Pull of Hawke's Bay Marathon growing

18 May 01:42 AM
Hawkes Bay Today

Weather: Sun to return but early taste of winter nights ahead

18 May 12:43 AM
Premium
Hawkes Bay Today

On the rebound: The Hawks' two wins in a week

17 May 10:33 PM

Sponsored

From boring to banger: Rapper turns Kiwis’ mortgage misery into music

17 May 12:00 PM
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Hawkes Bay Today

8000 runners, records and a sprint finish: Pull of Hawke's Bay Marathon growing
Hawkes Bay Today

8000 runners, records and a sprint finish: Pull of Hawke's Bay Marathon growing

More than 7800 runners took part, with over 81% from outside Hawke's Bay.

18 May 01:42 AM
Weather: Sun to return but early taste of winter nights ahead
Hawkes Bay Today

Weather: Sun to return but early taste of winter nights ahead

18 May 12:43 AM
Premium
Premium
On the rebound: The Hawks' two wins in a week
Hawkes Bay Today

On the rebound: The Hawks' two wins in a week

17 May 10:33 PM


From boring to banger: Rapper turns Kiwis’ mortgage misery into music
Sponsored

From boring to banger: Rapper turns Kiwis’ mortgage misery into music

17 May 12:00 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Hawke's Bay Today e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Hawke's Bay Today
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • NZME Events
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • NZME Digital Performance Marketing
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2026 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP