A WANGANUI forestry worker remained critically ill in Wellington Hospital last night, after he was struck by a car on State Highway 3 on Saturday night while lying on the road.
Wellington Hospital yesterday confirmed Daniel Skjoth, 20, was in a critical but stable condition in intensive care. Wanganui Police Detective
Nick Brunger said at 10.20pm on Saturday a man was lying down in the road on State Highway 3 when he was hit by a car driving towards town.
He received serious head injuries as a result, Mr Brunger said.
Last night Mr Skjoth's sister, Sandra Tofa, said the next 24 hours would be critical for her brother, who had surgery yesterday to place a plate in the right side of his skull.
Mr Skjoth had been put into a coma to reduce the swelling on his brain and his family were now just waiting to see if the swelling went down.
The family were all pulling together to support each other, and had stayed with Mr Skjoth at Wanganui Hospital overnight, before he was flown to Wellington at 7am yesterday.
"It's just waiting now to see if the swelling goes down, the good news is his neck is not fractured," Mrs Tofa said.
The family had initially been told he could be paralysed from the accident.
The staff at both hospitals had been "great", she said.
Mr Brunger said the driver of the car, who was returning with his family from Taranaki, did not see the man lying in the road until it was too late to avoid hitting him, as he was in the dark in a 100kph zone.
"As you can imagine, they're pretty shaken up by the incident," Mr Brunger said.
The driver had done "everything right" by stopping straight away, calling police and rendering assistance to the man, he said.
Police did not know why he was lying in the road and were presently investigating how he came to be there, Mr Brunger said.
Shannon Thomson, Daniel Skjoth's flatmate, yesterday told the Wanganui Chronicle Mr Skjoth had been at his 21st birthday party, north of the SH3 BP station before to the accident.
Mr Skjoth had "just vanished" from the party, but Mr Thomson guessed something had happened to him when he went outside and saw the flashing lights.
"It was a bit of a wake-up call. I didn't really think it could happen," he said.
* Anyone who saw a male in the vicinity of Rapanui Rd and Blueskin Rd between 9.30pm and 10.30pm on Saturday December 1, please call Sergeant Daman Evans at Wanganui Police on 349 0600.