An angle grinder blade through the chest comes horribly close to stealing Eric’s life

“In my fifteen years of medicine I have never had a patient whose life I can truly say I saved return to say thank you which Eric recently did,” said Dr Crosdale.

70 year old Eric Walk was home alone on his Gatton property when the blade from an angle grinder exploded and ripped through his jaw, neck, collar bone and lung.

“I felt a huge bang then looked down to see a big chunk of the blade hanging out of me,” he said.

Losing excessive amounts of blood, Eric somehow made his way inside to the telephone, but there was blood all over his glasses preventing him from being able to see the numbers to call 000.

Convinced he was going to die, the incredibly strong willed 70 year old somehow managed to drive his ute in low gear to the neighbouring piggery.

“I just putted along and thought to myself that I’m not going to kill anyone else on this deserted old dirt road if I cark it,” he said.

“The worst part was when I got there I couldn’t get the attention of the guys working as they were driving heavy machinery.

“I was beeping the horn and trying to wave as much as I could, they would look up thinking they had seen something then would go back to work, that’s when I started really panicking.

“I could hear gurgling where the blade had gone through my lung so I put my hand, fingers and all, in the wound trying to block it up so I could breathe.

The men soon noticed Eric and thought he was covered in mud. When they realised the extent of his injuries they called the ambulance.

“These guys were so good to me. They sat with me trying to talk to me and keep me conscious. I get very emotional every time I think of these wonderful strangers who helped save my life on the day.

“When the ambulance arrived they pretty much said there wasn’t a lot they could do for me.

“I was convinced I was going to die.”

From that moment on Eric has no memory of what happened until he woke up in the Princess Alexandra Hospital three days later.

CareFlight’s Dr Jacob Crosdale recalls getting the call while the chopper was on the roof of a Brisbane hospital just finishing off another job.

“When we arrived at the school oval Eric was at the point of death, his injuries were quite horrific,” he said.

“Because of all the swelling, visibility into his airway was very poor. I was in the process of setting up for a surgical tracheotomy that’s how bad the situation was. There was no time to waste.”

Just as Dr Crosdale was setting up to cut into Eric’s throat CareFlight Paramedic Anthony Clark- in a last ditch effort- managed to get a tube into Eric’s airway allowing him to be ventilated.

Dr Crosdale then had to perform a couple of small surgical procedures to re-inflate Eric’s torn lung before the flight to Brisbane.

“Apparently everyone from the town came up to the oval to see me. My son and his kids were there gathered around where the chopper had landed,” said Eric.

“The CareFlight Doctor had his job cut out for him though. He worked on me for a while I’m told trying to get me stable enough to fly.

Dr Crosdale said that the resuscitation effort to keep Eric alive would have been a challenge in a major hospital emergency department, let alone on a school oval.

“Everyone who was helping work on Eric did an incredible job it was a genuine team effort which I will never forget. From student paramedics to the CareFlight pilot who was holding the fluid bag, everyone contributed to saving Eric’s life,” said Dr Crosdale. 

Eric tells us that Dr Crosdale called the PA Hospital to check on him several days after the accident but he was still unconscious.

“When he came back to the hospital for another job apparently he physically went to the ward to check on my condition, now that was very touching.”

Eric was told by surgeons that he wouldn’t be here today if the blade had of entered 2mm closer to the middle of his neck.

“I also know if it wasn’t for CareFlight I would not be here today talking to you now. CareFlight most definitely saved my life that day and I am eternally grateful.”

“When I was in hospital my neighbours went to my home and cleaned up all of the blood, cleaned out my ute and every area of the property where I had walked, it was such an amazing gesture.”

It has been nearly nine weeks since Eric’s accident and apart from some shoulder pain and a large scar he has made a full recovery. He is looking forward to visiting the Toowoomba CareFlight base to meet the crew who worked on him.

“My wife has been buying the CareFlight Christmas Bears for years and I think I got my money’s worth this year,” laughs Eric.

For CareFlight’s Dr Crosdale the job has a special significance and he too looks forward to shaking Eric’s hand.

“In my fifteen years of medicine I have never had a patient whose life I can truly say I saved return to say thank you which Eric recently did. It’s certainly never expected but was a very touching gesture,” said Dr Crosdale.

“It brings home the huge privilege we have in using the resources of CareFlight to make something like this happen. Without the personal contributions of thousands of individual donors this would be another newspaper report of tragic fatal accident, instead this person is alive and I can see that he is happy and enjoying his life.”

To help RACQ CareFlight continue to be there for people like Eric please donate now to our life-saving service.