Boy with head injury stable after falling off motorcycle

The 7-year-old boy who received serious head injuries after he fell from a motorcycle at a farm property near Waikouaiti was in a stable condition in Dunedin Hospital yesterday, police said.

The boy was airlifted to the hospital's emergency department by an Otago Regional Rescue helicopter after the incident on a private property in Ramrock Rd, near Bucklands Crossing, on Thursday.

New Zealand police southern communications manager Nic Barkley said police would not be investigating the incident and no other details were available.

A Worksafe New Zealand spokesman said it had not been advised of the incident.

A St John spokesman said it was alerted to the accident at 6.34pm.

An ambulance arrived at the property about 15 minutes later and the helicopter was on scene 30 minutes after that, the spokesman said.

A director of the trust that owns the farm land said she did not know any details of the accident and had no comment.

The boy's crash was the third serious incident to affect the Waikouaiti community in recent weeks.

On Monday, 67-year-old Gerald James Cowley was killed after an elderly driver's car mounted the footpath at speed in Oamaru in a crash which injured three other people.

On January 2, the community farewelled 12-year-old Jack Martin, killed after being struck by a jet-boat while riding an inflatable biscuit on St Bathans' Blue Lake on Boxing Day.

Waikouaiti Coast Community Board chairman Gerard Collings said the community felt deeply for the families concerned.

"They're all unrelated incidents and accidents in their own right.

"It's unfortunate when that number of incidents happens in a small community like ours.

"Our thoughts are with the families concerned.''

damian.george@odt.co.nz

Add a Comment

 

Advertisement