CRUSHED BY TRUCK

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 3, Issue 726, 29 December 1933, Page 5

CRUSHED BY TRUCK

(Press Assn.

helfless all night TERRIBLE EXPERIENCE OF* A YOUNG LORRY . . DRIVER ENDS IN DEATH ' «

— By Telegraph — Copyright)".

Stratford, Thursday. The story of a young man's intense suffering after meeting with a motor ■ accident was told yesterday by Nqrse Birss, of Tangarakau, at the inquest held here into the death of Desmond Roy Keith Hight, aged 22, who was • pinned against a wire f ence under a motor truck for over nine hours during a raging storm on Wednesday ' night of last week. He was taken to the Stratford Hosptal on Thursday, but died on Christmas Day as a result of his- long exposure. The coroner, Mr. W. L. Kennedy, J.P., returned a verdict of death from injuries, ahd also made some pointed comments regarding the state of the road between Tahora and Tangarakau upon whieli the accident occurred. ' Dz*. D. Stevens, medical superintendent- of the Stratford Public Hospital said Hight was admitted to the inctitution in a state of extreme collapse. After treatment he improved tc- a'certain extent. None of the internal organs -ha'd -been injured, but they were congested as a result of his long exposure. The cause of death was anurea, following on acute nephritis, the result of exposure. Suffering and Helpless Mrs. B. Birss, district nurse at Tangarakau, gave evidence that, on receiving a call to the scene of the acidsnt, she obtained the assistance of tho inspector of permanent way on the railway, who took her there on ;a motor jigger. Hight was suffering }£. great deal, but he was -conscious arid told her a terrible story of suffering. "He told me," said Mrs. Birss, "that he remembered the lorry swervihg and " the next thing he knew he was on the wires with the vehicle on top of him. Unable to move, he called- out for assistance for a long time, but nb one heard him, and about midnight ho gave up. Perspiration pomred froin him all night through, and he said h6 would have given anything for.a drink of water. In addition, the brinzine was leaking, and he held .Ms coat with one hand to keep the fumes from choking him. .

• Tried to Choke Himself "So terrible were his suffering that at one time he tried unsuccessfully to choko himself on the wires to get out of his misery. He told me that he had, been conscious throughout, and .that it had rained heavily all night. H'e also said, 'Surely to God they will *do something to the road now.' . 7. ; j "I am quite convinced," said NuPsfe Birss, "that the road been rrietalrled the accident would never hrive occurred." ' "Thin is one of the saddest cas?S ;I have ever had to deal with,", said Ihe coroner. "I know the condition cf this road, as I have often had'to travel over it. Representations have hecr. made by various local bodies to the authorities, but without avail. I have no hesitation in saying that it should be attended to immediately."