Pedestrian critical after walking into ute trailer
A PASSING doctor administered emergency first aid to a man badly injured after being hit by a vehicle on a busy Townsville street.
A 45- year- old man was in a critical condition in Townsville Hospital last night after he walked onto Hugh St near the IGA in Garbutt and was hit by a utility towing a trailer about 9.40am.
Early investigations suggest the driver of the ute sounded his horn and tried to slow down, but the man walked into the side of his trailer. The impact threw him to the ground and caused head injuries.
LifeFlight critical care doctor Jesper Wallskog was first on scene, after he saw the crash while taking his son to gymnastics training, and rushed to the man’s aid.
“As we drove by, I saw this man laying in the middle of the street, with one or two police standing next to him,” Dr Wallskog said.
“My wife was driving, so I got out of the car and went over there. I had a look at the patient, he was severely injured at first glance … it was obvious he had a severe head injury and he was unconscious.
“I checked he had a pulse and that he was breathing and at that point the ambulance arrived and then we started to monitor him, before another critical care paramedic arrived.
“We got him on the stretcher, stabilised the spine, the neck, for possible injuries and he was loaded into the ambulance and the critical care paramedic and I went with him to the hospital.”
District Duty Officer Senior Sergeant Ian Wilkie said the Forensic Crash Unit was investigating.
“The information at this stage is that the vehicle has seen him and slowed and then commenced to continue on its path and he has walked into the side of the trailer, being towed by the vehicle,” Sen- Sgt Wilkie said. “We are looking at alcohol as one of the contributing factors ( for the pedestrian crossing the road).”