A local councillor’s family were told to say their goodbyes after a stone hit him in the chest, causing massive internal bleeding, while he was operating a weed-eater on long grass on a public street.
He collapsed moments later. “I remember looking up and trying to get up and go towards these people but luckily they had seen me and came to my aid. I fell again and stayed down.”
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Westland district councillor Latham Martin survived a near fatal chest injury while operating a weed-eater in Hokitika. The passers-by rang 111 and put him in the recovery position. He was taken by ambulance to Greymouth’s Te Nikau Hospital where a team of medical professionals was waiting. “I remember getting to Te Nikau and looking up at the ceiling and there was about 14 doctors and nurses already assembled. They were such a comfort to me.”