SAVED GIRL’S LIFE
Midshipman Who Died
(N.Z. Press Association) LEVIN, August 8. “I am quite sure that if Roberto had not thrown himself in front of me I would have been killed. He saved my life,” said an 18-year-old nurse during an inquest on Roberto Patricio Blanco Schuler, a midshipman on the Chilean training vessel Esmeralda, who was killed in a motor accident near Levin on June 17. The Coroner (Mr F. H. Jones) found that death was due to fracture dislocation of the upper cervical vertebrae, with damage to the brain stem and spinal cord, there being no evidence to find what caused the accident. Jacqueline Levens, a nurse at Wellington Hospital, and a passenger in the car, said she became friendly with Schuler and on June 16, he hired a car in Wellington to go to Palmerston North for a scenic drive. “I think it would not be long after midnight. I must have dozed off because I suddenly awoke and thought I saw car headlights coming towards us. “Roberto swung the wheel to the left and threw himself in front of me. There was a terrific crash. . . . “I saw Roberto lying on the ground. I next remember being put in an ambulance and heard someone say Roberto was dead.”
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Bibliographic details
Press, Volume C, Issue 29587, 9 August 1961, Page 8
Word Count
212SAVED GIRL’S LIFE Press, Volume C, Issue 29587, 9 August 1961, Page 8
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