Gutsy Taieri teen drags himself safe

Taieri teenager Jacob Ferguson crawled out from under a 110kg motorcycle, freed himself from an electric fence and dragged himself to get help with his leg broken in three places after a trail bike accident.

Now the gutsy teen just wants to get out of hospital and see his dog Patch, who "protected" him during the ordeal to the point of not allowing ambulance officers to come close until he was distracted by food.

The drama started on Thursday when 'Jake' (16) went for a ride with his dog, Patch, on the family's North Taieri property.

Jake flipped his trail bike on a creek bank and the bike landed on top of him, breaking his right leg in three places.

The accident left Jake and his bike tangled in a 5000-volt electric fence and he suffered a series of electric shocks.

With his leg "flopping all over the place", Jake managed to squirm from under the 110kg 200cc motorcycle. Jake removed his boots, which was "awful because it kind of pulled on my leg" and he dragged himself on his stomach, fist over fist, using long grass for grip, towards his home and a telephone.

At one point, Jake saw an axe and he used it to pull himself along when the grass was not long enough to gain purchase.

It took him 45 minutes to travel 150m, with Patch, an 8-year-old blue heeler, "following and protecting" him all the way.

The gravel drive was especially hard because there was nothing to grab on to and "it was real hard when I got there, on the paving [at the house], because I had to roll myself over and my leg was, like, flopping around".

After help had been called, Patch would not let the ambulance officers anywhere near his beloved owner and - on Jake's advice - had to be lured away with some of Patch's favourite cat food.

Jake was operated on that night and faces six weeks in a cast and up to two years of rehabilitation.

Jake's relieved parents, Trevor and Karen Ferguson, yesterday said they were in a state of disbelief at what their son had managed and were amazed by his courage.

Jake himself, a year 11 pupil, was disappointed both to miss his exams this week and because he had already missed receiving two prizes at the Taieri College prizegiving on Thursday night.

But he was cheerful, and thankful to all those who had helped him.

And what he was really looking forward to most was getting home to see Patch.