The Star: August 03, 2017

The Star Latest Christchurch news at www.star.kiwi
Thursday August 3 2017 5
Motorist’s second close call
• By Andrew King
THE MOTORIST who
miraculously escaped death
when his vehicle rolled more
than 500m down a Banks
Peninsula hillside is no stranger
to near misses.
Luke Wigram walked away
from the wreck with broken ribs
fingers and bruising.
“The last thing I remember is
being violently thrown around.
I expected to die when the car
left the road,” he told The Star
yesterday.
In 1994, Mr Wigram was a
student at Tai Poutini Polytechnic
in Greymouth. On April 27,
his class visited Cave Creek in
the Paparoa National Park, and
walked onto the platform which
would collapse when another
class visited the following day,
killing 13 students and a Department
of Conservation field
officer.
Said Mr Wigram yesterday:
“I remember one of my fellow
classmates saying I don’t think it
should be shaking like this.”
Now Mr Wigram, 39, is counting
his lucky stars again. He was
driving on Summit Rd in his
Ford Focus station wagon, near
Little Akaloa, on Friday, when
RESCUE: Luke Wigram was airlifted to hospital with broken
ribs and fingers and a big gash on his forehead.
hail started to fall on light snow
on the road.
The vehicle slid off the road
and started to roll down the hill.
All he could do was concentrate
on keeping his limbs inside
the vehicle, said Mr Wigram.
Then he lost consciousness.
When he came to, he climbed
out of the badly mangled vehicle,
sore, but incredibly lucky.
He found his cellphone in his
pocket and dialled 111.
Said Mr Wigram: “I just stayed
on the line with the dispatcher
who kept me going. Asking me
questions about what injuries I
had, could I hear sirens, that sort
of thing.”
He was airlifted to Christchurch
Hospital by the Westpac
Rescue Helicopter.
“There was a general surprise
that I could survive the roll
down the bank and have few
injuries,” he said.
‘The last thing I remember
is being violently thrown
around. I expected to die
when the car left the road.’
– Luke Wigram
“If I have a guardian angel, it is
probably taking a well-deserved
break now.”
Mr Wigram was discharged
from hospital on Tuesday.
Senior Constable Tim Johnson
said he had never seen a crash
like it result in the driver walking
away alive.
“About 450m off the side of
the road was the engine, a further
50m were a couple of wheels
wedged into a fence and about
100m down from that was what
was left of the car,” he said.
“He is incredibly lucky.”
•Dangerous intersections, p9
Decision whether to
charge coach may
be made tomorrow
• By Gabrielle Stuart
POLICE MAY decide tomorrow
if charges will be laid over alleged
abuse of a young rugby player by a
coach from another team.
West Melton under-14.5s coach
Amanda Tomlinson has been accused
of verbally and physically
abusing a Lincoln player after a
match early last month.
The altercation happened after
an incident between the boy and
a West Melton player during the
match.
The Canterbury Rugby Football
Union began an investigation last
month, but that was put on hold
after the police became involved.
Senior Sergeant Peter Stills told
The Star witnesses were still being
interviewed, but a decision about
the next step in the case was likely
to be made by the end of the week.
Tomlinson told The Star last
month she grabbed the boy by the
collar “so he would look me in the
eye,” after he kicked a player from
her team in the mouth.
CRFU chief executive Nathan
Godfrey said the investigation into
Tomlinson’s behaviour was on
hold, but the incident between the
players during the match may be
separately investigated.
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