Trio of serious crashes occur over three days
The teen victim of a crash near Waipukurau says he is immensely grateful to a passer-by who found him dazed by the side of the road and rushed him 50km to hospital.
Jobe Koolen was travelling to work on Friday morning when he took a corner too fast and flipped his Honda Civic.
But that is all Jobe can remember from the crash, which occurred on Arlington Rd about 6.45am.
“All I remember is getting the car in the morning to drive to work. I don’t really remember all that much of the crash,” he said.
“I remember driving around a corner and felt the motion of flipping and I was knocked out pretty much from then on.
Jobe was rushed to Hawke’s Bay Hospital by a passer-by.
“There were no ambulances, no police, no nothing. A guy just drove past and asked if I was all right and asked if that was my car.
“He told me to jump in and took me all the way to hospital.”
Jobe, who wants to thank the passer-by, was diagnosed with head trauma, a concussion and a bruised lung. He also has cuts and bruises all over his body.
“My memory stops after I rolled and starts again after a guy pulled over and asked if I was all right,” he said.
Police said there is “limited information” regarding the crash because of the nature of how it was reported.
Jobe’s mother, Sandra Koolen, said she will be forever grateful to the man who stopped for her son.
“Man, do I thank God he is here. His angels were holding on to him on Friday,” she said.
“Thank you so much to the man that found my son and bought him straight to the hospital.”
Jobe said he was told by police an “overcorrection” was the reason behind the crash.
“Police said I was going around the corner too fast and tried to correct myself and ended up rolling my car,” he said.
Later the same day a boy who jumped from a school Go Bus in High Street, Waipawa was taken to hospital in a serious condition.
A St John ambulance attended the scene at 3.38pm on Friday where, according to a bystander the boy was meant to get off the bus in Waipawa for a doctor’s appointment.
“He forgot, hit emergency stop and, as the door opened, he threw his bag out and jumped after it.”
Passengers heard a thud and saw him roll into gutter, the bystander said. Motorists immediately stopped and ran to the boy. Another bystander said the boy was unconscious. The bus was seen to stop about 500m down the road.
On Sunday morning a person sustained serious injuries after two-vehicle crash on State Highway 2 near Waipukurau.
Emergency services attended the scene at the intersection of Cook St and Takapau Rd about 11.03am.
A Fire and Emergency New Zealand spokesman confirmed firefighters and a rescue helicopter attended the accident.
Police said one person was trapped in one of the vehicles. A St John Ambulance spokeswoman said one patient with serious injuries was flown to Hawke’s Bay Hospital in Hastings.
State Highway 2 was temporarily blocked.
‘I remember driving around a corner and felt the motion of flipping
and I was knocked out pretty much from on.’ then
JOBE KOOLEN