BOY BADLY INJURED

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30147, 3 June 1963, Page 10

BOY BADLY INJURED

Accident With Tractor

A boy, aged 13, had an arm almost torn off and the other badly fractured and lacerated, and also suffered internal injuries, when his coat caught in the drive shaft of a tractor on Saturday morning He is Paul Strang of 7 Curries road, Hillsborough Strang was taken by a St John ambulance to the Christchurch Hospital. His condition was reported last evening as slightly improved but he is still seriously ill

The accident occurred about 1030 a m., when, it is believed. Strang attempted to jump on the back of a tractor towing a potato digger on Mr H M Jarden's property at 314 Port Hills road

The boy’s clothing was almost completely torn from the upper part of his body and was wrapped firmly around the power take-off It took a St. John ambulance driver, a nurse, and fithers about 15 minutes to free him Carving knives were used to cut the clothing away before the power take-off link could be uncoupled The boy was conscious all the time While Strang was being freed the ambulance driver sent a radio message to the St John ambulance headquarters The Christchurch City Council traffic department was told of the route the ambulance would take on its trip to the hospital, and traffic officers were alerted at intersections, as traffic was heavy because of the Rugby test match.