Boy, truck driver avert crash on highway
AUCKLAND: A hero truck driving pair believed they had just watched a young boy fall to his death after he tumbled out of a moving car at speeds of up to 85kmh.
Tenyearold Ryan Farelly had been trying to stop his grandmother Kathie’s car on Tuesday morning after she slipped into a semiconscious state while driving along the Waikato Expressway.
Stephen Mitchell, a senior driver trainer with Axiom, had noticed the car veering left and right between Meremere and Mercer as the truck he was a passenger in closed up from behind.
‘‘I’ve seen lots of things in my life, but it’s the first time I’ve ever seen someone bounce on the road like that kid and survive,’’ he said.
‘‘My first thought was he’s a goner at that sort of speed. He was very lucky he didn’t hit the ground with his head.’’
Amazingly, Ryan ended up with only bruises and scrapes and has since been praised by police for his efforts to try to bring the car to a halt.
After he tumbled out, his nana Kathie continued down the expressway as she suffered from a medical condition.
Mitchell and the truck’s driver Gene Browne used the righthand lane to motor past Kathie before pulling in front of her and slowing the truck down.
This led Kathie to slow the car down behind them and come to a halt. Mitchell jumped out and rushed to her.
‘‘She still kept on trying to drive. She drove into the back of the truck, tapping the bumper a couple of times,’’ Mitchell said.
‘‘So I leaned in, shoved the car into park and switched the ignition off and took the keys out.’’
Kathie was staring vacantly through the windscreen.
‘‘I was saying to her ‘do you realise your kid has just gone out the back door?’’’
‘‘Normally if a person’s grandchild had just flown out of the car, they would be hysterical.’’
‘‘She didn’t do anything — when I say nothing, she didn’t blink, she didn’t say anything — so I just took over and put the car into park.’’
Mr Mitchell said it was lucky he and Mr Browne had been the ones to come up behind Kathie.
Having spent years teaching truckies how to drive, he quickly noticed the car behaving erratically. He thought the driver was drunk but then noticed Ryan leaning out the back window waving at them.
Mitchell at first waved back as if to say sit back down and put your seatbelt on.
He told Mr Browne they needed to get past the car and they had just pulled into the right lane, when Ryan opened the lefthand side back door and fell out.
‘‘We were going 85kmh right behind them. But we had just pulled to the right and luckily we had done that, because if we hadn’t we would have driven over the top of him.’’
Mr Mitchell said he and Mr Browne managed to stop Kathie’s car about 400500m past the point where Ryan had fallen out.
A van then picked Ryan up and brought him to where Mr Mitchell had halted Kathie’s car. An ambulance crew that happened to be passing by saw the incident and stopped to provide treatment to Ryan and Kathie.
Counties Manukau police praised Ryan for his efforts to try to stop the car.
They said he stepped over the car’s centre console and put his foot on the brake but couldn’t bring the car to a halt because Kathie’s foot remained on the accelerator.
Kathie described Ryan as ‘‘a very special little boy’’ and praised his ‘‘quick thinking’’.
She wouldn’t say what medical condition had led to the drama. — The New Zealand Herald
❛ I’ve seen lots of things in my life, but it’s the first time I’ve ever seen someone bounce on the road like
that kid and survive