Hawke's Bay truck driver lucky to be alive after 'leap of faith'

LUCK: Hastings man Philip Gotty was wearing his 'lucky tiki' when his brakes appeared to fail- both were injured, but had a miraculous survival earlier this year. PHOTO/WARREN BUCKLAND.

He was known as "Lucky Phil" even before he survived leaping from a truck travelling at 125km/h on the Napier-Taihape Rd.

Nearly a year later, Phillip Gotty says he still feels lucky - lucky to be nearly healed, back at work, and feeling like his life is getting "back on track".

The Hastings man spent the first half of 2017 recovering in Hawke's Bay Hospital. In January, the truckie was halfway down a hill in the Nga Mahanga area, travelling 60km/h, with a recommended 35km/h area and "big drop" looming - when his brakes failed.

Torn between staying with the truck or trying his chances, when the speedometer hit 100km/h he decided to leap from the truck and hit the road - wearing nothing but a vest, a pair of shorts and work boots.

After regaining consciousness, he was surprised to still be alive. However, he was badly injured with a head wound, punctured lung, broken ribs, dislocated hand and large cuts to his limbs.

"I was sort of gasping for air and I just looked around and I thought 'oh God, if you're going to take me, take me now'," he said in January. "I felt quite comfortable with going because I just felt so busted up."

But he didn't - he fought, and nearly a year on Gotty is about "95 per cent healed".

Although back working steadily now, his first attempts to return were a struggle. His wrist and ribs were still injured, and he suffered migraines every day. He ended up fighting through the pain to get back to work, despite being offered ACC assistance.

"I'd had enough aye, I said 'I'm getting quite bored looking out the window'," he said. "So I went back to work and it's getting a lot better. My migraines are sort of fading away and the wrist is getting stronger, I can climb in and out [of trucks] and throw things around now."

But although his injuries are healing, the memory of his death-defying leap has stayed with him.

"It comes back in flashbacks, of when I was going down the hill and the actual jumping out. At the time it was just a split decision, a leap of faith thing.

"I probably made the right decision. I went and had a look at the truck and the truck was mangled, they would have had to pluck me out with tweezers."

Although Gotty feels like "the one that got away", he has met people who thought he did not.

"Quite a few people actually think I died," he said. "A lot of people look at me and talk about the guy that had that accident and he died, and I say 'he can't have died because I'm that guy'.

"I show them photos. They go 'woah', I show them the scars then they go, 'yup you're the guy all right, you survived it'.

"They look at me quite curious, like, 'a lot of people think you died in the hospital'."

Although always a positive person, Gotty's approach to life has changed.

"I try not to stress too much. Especially after the accident I thought, well what's it worth putting it in your mind to stress out.

"It's another day, and I'm quite lucky to be here."

A police investigation into the cause of the crash found a contributing factor was a mechanical failure "which would not have been detected in a COF inspection".

"No charges have been laid and the investigation is now complete," said a spokeswoman.