Nurse Drags Man From Under Wild Stallion

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30391, 16 March 1964, Page 1

Nurse Drags Man From Under Wild Stallion

Ignoring the threshing hooves of a fallen stallion, a Lyttelton St. John Ambulance nurse dragged to safety a spectator who was pinned under the terrified animal at the Motukarara rodeo on Saturday.

Seconds before, the horse had thrown its rider and attempted to escape from the ring. Lashing out furiously, the unbroken stallion attempted to jump over a high gate, but hit the top, rolled over and dropped on its back between an ambulance and parked car.

The spectator, Mr A. Denovan, of Riccarton, was standing between the two vehicles and he was knocked under the horse as it fell. He had only just left the ambulance where he had been receiving first aid for injuries to his fingers caused earlier in the day when a steer crushed them against a fence. The horse and Mr Denovan were wedged between the ambulance and the car when Nurse P. Schneider rushed to his assistance. In spite of the kicking of the horse's legs, she managed to drag Mr Denovan by the armpits to the rear of the ambulance. Although badly shocked, Mr Denovan was not seriously injured and was taken home by private car. During its efforts to free itself, the horse smashed a fog lamp on the ambulance and slightly dented a fender on the car. The horse hit the gate with such an impact that it badly buckled the inch pipe framing. Bleeding from several gashes, the frightened stallion eventually bolted away. It was caught later and found not to be badly hurt. Nurse Schneider’s quick action prompted much praise from other spectators. Nurse A. J. Hopkins, who was inside the ambulance at the time, said she thought Nurse Schneider was “very brave” and had saved Mr Denovan

from possible serious injury. The doctor who was on duty at the rodeo said it was extremely fortunate there were no other spectators between the two vehicles at the time. “If it had happened a minute earlier, the horse would have landed on twin babies in a push chair,” he said. “The mother had just wheeled them away.” Hit By Chariot There were several other mishaps during the day. Possibly the most spectacular was when Mr D. Coakley, the president of the Banks Peninsula Buck Jumping and Steer Riding Association (which organised the rodeo), was tipped out of and run over by his own steer-drawn chariot. “Don’t say I was badly hurt,” he said on his return from the outpatients' department of the Christchurch Hospital with his arm in a sling. “Just say it was amusing.” A rider who fell heavily from a steer was treated for minor head injuries at the hospital. He was G. Bell. The local doctor was able i to cope with all the other calls for first aid. He was not, however, able to console the woman who had : her dress ripped by the spurs ; of a youthful competitor who leapt over the safety fence to i land nearly in the woman's ' lap. The woman complained i to the secretary.