A Waikato contractor is understood to have had both legs amputated after being trapped in his overturned tractor for several hours near Paeroa on the Hauraki Plains yesterday.
The man was cutting gorse on the Waihi side of Paeroa when his tractor rolled in a gully about 2pm yesterday.
He was trapped
upside down with serious crush injuries to his legs until 8.30pm when he was found by Paeroa businessman Wayne Richards, who was training his horse.
He was flown to Waikato Hospital where his legs were apparently amputated although the hospital would not confirm that this morning.
His condition was reported to be critical but stable.
Mr Richards told NZPA he saw the injured man's ute but could see no sign of his tractor and went looking for him.
Mr Richards said the contractor was "pretty happy" to see him but after several hours was lapsing in and out of consciousness.
"He said 'Get me out of this bloody thing,' but it wasn't as easy as that."
Mr Richards said his cellphone battery was running out and he called the owner of the land to raise the alarm and get a digger to cut a track down to the injured man.
Within minutes firefighters, police and ambulance staff had arrived from Paeroa but had to carry their cutting and rescue gear down the hill to the tractor.
He said the man was thirsty but his survival with such bad injuries was "unbelievable".
The man would not have been found had Mr Richards not been riding his horse in the area. He would not have lasted the night.
Paeroa firefighter Warwick Leach, who led the rescue mission, said the injured man was very lucky to have survived.
"He was a pretty tough dude. He didn't moan or groan at all and he had been trapped there for more than six hours," Mr Leach said.
He said the tractor was lifted off and cutting gear was used to free him so he could be carried up to the hill to a waiting Westpac rescue helicopter.
The injured man is believed to be an Englishman who lives in Pokeno and has no relatives in New Zealand.
- NZPA
