CHOPPER SERVICE FLIES OUT INJURED DRIVER AFTER ORARA WAY SMASH

02.08.2010

THE value of the Westpac Rescue
Helicopter Service to the Coffs
Coast was hammered home yet
again on Saturday after an horrific
crash on the Orara Way.
The chopper scrambled from its
base at Lismore after reports a
south-bound sedan had run off the
road after failing to negotiate a
sweeping left-hand bend just south
of Kungala Road.
Rescue crews arrived to find the
car had skidded off the road and
rolled a number of times before
hitting a dirt embankment on the
western side of the road and coming
to rest on its side.
Inside was a 35-year-old man
from South Grafton and his
toddler daughter. A number
of witnesses stopped immediately
and helped the girl out of
the vehicle, however, her father
was trapped with major head and
neck trauma for more than an
hour.
He was eventually freed by
members of the SES and was airlifted
by the rescue helicopter to
the Coffs Harbour Base Hospital in
a stable condition.
Investigations into the cause of
the accident are continuing.