She was the first person on the scene and when she saw her dad under the truck, had to carefully reverse it off him.
When emergency services arrived, many of them were Steele's good mates who he had previously worked with in the local fire brigade.
He had regained consciousness and couldn't resist telling them they were cutting away his best shirt, before he was airlifted to Auckland City Hospital in a critical condition.
His wife Jackie and the family were told it could be months before he left hospital. However once he had a titanium chest plate put in, he was, incredibly, well enough to leave in a matter of weeks.
Steele met his rescuer, Auckland Westpac Rescue Helicopter flight intensive care paramedic Casey Drum, properly for the first time in November.
Drum said it was great to see Steele back on his feet again after such serious injuries.
Gary Steele visited the Auckland Westpac Rescue Helicopter base in Ardmore in November to meet Casey Drum. Photo / Chelsea Boyle
Steele was incredibly grateful for all the help he had received since the accident. In particular he wanted to thank the paramedics, doctors and helicopter team who helped him.
"I spent a lot of time in hospital and all those nurses had to put up with me as well."
He maintains a positive outlook, even insisting the ordeal has been a surprisingly pain-free experience and that he had blacked out for the worst of it.
