Talking to the Otago Daily Times yesterday, Heriot truckie of 30 years Matthew Steel said it was beyond belief he was walking and talking, following the dramatic crash in Coe Rd, 10km north of Balclutha, last week.
The father of six — and grandfather to 10 — was at home relaxing in sunshine with family yesterday, a neck brace for a cracked cervical vertebra and some minor cuts to his arms the only signs of any injuries.
Having experienced a "nasty" truck crash with his father at the age of 7, Mr Steel, now 59, said he felt a sense of inevitability as his fully laden, 50-tonne logging truck left the road and flipped down a bank on the rainy Monday morning last week.
"I was coming down the road at 51 kmh, felt the truck slide on the clay and loose gravel on that corner and decided to steer into the slide so I’d go down the bank straight rather than sideways. Unfortunately, by then it was a case of the tail wagging the dog and the trailer took over, causing the cab to do a barrel roll and end up crushed, half on its roof."
Mr Steel said he had been saved by his seatbelt, ending up trapped by his head and thighs, the cab wrapping round his skull like a helmet.
"I was corkscrewed round, legs above my head and my head wrapped right in the corner of the cab pushing my chin and neck sideways and down.
"It was pretty uncomfortable, but I was still conscious and breathing — which was hard because of the twisting — but I was alive."
He said a person from a nearby house checked on him and called emergency services.
"Once I got the breathing under control, I was cracking jokes with the firemen and thought, ‘I’m going to get out of this’, although it hurt to laugh," he said.
Given the precariousness of Mr Steel’s position in the cab, a Dunedin fire crew with specialist rescue equipment was summoned.
"That was probably the most nerve-racking bit, because the saw is running right by your eyes and nose, both sides. The noise was something else," he said.
He said he felt like a cat with nine lives to have escaped his second serious crash, following his childhood incident.
"The emergency and medical crews were fantastic — I can’t praise them highly enough.
"I’ve got more scans this week and the docs say it could be a four- to six-month journey to get back to work but, honestly, I just want to get back behind the wheel.
"If I had nine lives, I’ve probably only got one left now. But you can be sure I’ve got my Lotto ticket ready to go."
