Whanganui Chronicle
  • Whanganui Chronicle home
  • Latest news
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • 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

  • Taranaki
  • National Park
  • Whakapapa
  • Ohakune
  • Raetihi
  • Taihape
  • Marton
  • Feilding
  • Palmerston North

Media

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

Weather

  • New Plymouth
  • Whanganui
  • Palmertson North
  • Levin

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 / Whanganui Chronicle

Man breaks leg jumping from runaway truck

By Melissa Nightingale
Whanganui Chronicle·
10 Mar, 2016 07:13 PM2 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

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

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

    Share this article

KIWI INGENUITY: Rescuers had the bright idea to suspend the injured man's stretcher from a digger and drive it to the ambulance, which couldn't reach them.

KIWI INGENUITY: Rescuers had the bright idea to suspend the injured man's stretcher from a digger and drive it to the ambulance, which couldn't reach them.

A man broke his leg jumping from a runaway dump truck on the rail line between Westmere and Whanganui yesterday.

"There were some people working on the railway line and they had a little dump truck that runs on the tracks," Whanganui senior fire station officer Bryce Coneybeer said.

"It had a malfunction and it ended up being a runaway. It was running down the hill from Brunswick heading towards town.

"The operator had to hop clear of it and let it go."

Mr Coneybeer said the man snapped his femur while jumping off the vehicle.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Before jumping he was able to radio other workers to warn them it was coming their way, and they were able to leave another vehicle in its path to stop it. Mr Coneybeer said they could not get an ambulance up the tracks to where he was, so emergency services walked about 1.5km up the tracks with a stretcher and stabilised him.

A helicopter was called but rescuers then came up with an idea to suspend the man's stretcher from a digger, and take the digger down the tracks to the ambulance.

It was a "fairly long, slow ride back to the ambulance".

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Mr Coneybeer said the truck travelled about 3km after its brakes failed, and the man had jumped out after about 2km.

A Kiwirail spokesperson said Kiwirail and one of its contractors were investigating the mechanical or brake failure.

"Worksafe has been notified and in regards to whether similar incidents have happened before, this will be part of the investigation into today's incident," they said.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Whanganui Chronicle

Whanganui Chronicle

'Fuel in the tank': Ruapehu Mayor announces re-election bid

12 Jun 03:07 AM
Whanganui Chronicle

Watch: Discover top talent at this year's Smokefreerockquest and Showquest

12 Jun 01:57 AM
Whanganui Chronicle

Defence Force's Waiōuru housing project fails to break ground

11 Jun 11:30 PM

It was just a stopover – 18 months later, they call it home

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Whanganui Chronicle

'Fuel in the tank': Ruapehu Mayor announces re-election bid

'Fuel in the tank': Ruapehu Mayor announces re-election bid

12 Jun 03:07 AM

'I don’t race to Facebook. I deal with it, get advice and work through the issue.'

Watch: Discover top talent at this year's Smokefreerockquest and Showquest

Watch: Discover top talent at this year's Smokefreerockquest and Showquest

12 Jun 01:57 AM
Defence Force's Waiōuru housing project fails to break ground

Defence Force's Waiōuru housing project fails to break ground

11 Jun 11:30 PM
‘The model works’: This sport and culture programme is changing lives

‘The model works’: This sport and culture programme is changing lives

11 Jun 09:17 PM
The woman behind NZ’s first PAK’nSAVE
sponsored

The woman behind NZ’s first PAK’nSAVE

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
  • Whanganui Chronicle e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Whanganui Chronicle
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • NZME Events
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP