Injured biker thankful
AN Oak Valley woman who suffered severe injuries in a motorbike crash has praised a group of men who stopped to provide help.
Trina Luerzsen, 23, was travelling to Charters Towers through rain on the Flinders Highway last Sunday when her motorcycle hit a patch of oil near the Mingela Hotel.
Ms Luerzsen lost control of her bike and slid across the highway for about 10m.
She was badly hurt but it wasn’t long before help arrived to comfort her and render first aid.
The first person on the scene, whose name Ms Luerzsen doesn’t know, pulled over and blocked the road with his car.
He then helped her move her bike from the road.
“He set up his swag for me on the grass and they moved me on to that and then he called the ambulance,” she said.
Another man, Mark Lackersteen, had also stopped and applied a bandage to her ankle.
Then a man named Tony Power stopped to help and stayed with her until paramedics arrived.
Ms Luerzsen, who lives on a farm near Oak Valley was placed in an ambulance where her conditioned worsened.
“While they were trying to insert a cannula, my heart stopped for about 30 seconds and then I had a seizure,” she said.
“It all lasted about two minutes.”
She was rushed to Townsville Hospital and doctors confirmed on Monday she had two broken bones.
She now faces a long period of rehabilitation and will need scans on her muscles and heart. Despite her ordeal, Ms Luerzsen said her main priority was to thank those who helped her.
“I want to thank everyone who stopped and took time out of their day to stand around me in the rain and keep me calm until the ambulance arrived,” she said.
“Some people are reluctant to stop, but luckily that wasn’t my experience.”