TAXI’S RACE TO SAVE LIFE OF YOUNG CHILD

Greymouth Evening Star, 20 May 1949, Page 3

TAXI’S RACE TO SAVE LIFE OF YOUNG CHILD

WELLINGTON, May 19 (P.A.).— Radio telephones, fast driving, and the disregard of traffic rules combined to save the life of a Khandallah child who swallowed a bottle of poisonous liniment last evening. A taxi took the child from Khandallah to the Wellington Public Hospital (about eight miles) in eight minutes, with a maximum speed of 73 miles an hour. When the taxi company received the call it immediately diverted its nearest radio-equipped taxi to Khan- , dallah. The taxi was given a dispensation by the Wellington City Council traffic department to break what traffic by-laws it considered necessary. i The taxi company also got in touch i with the hospital and then called the driver, who was also in communication with the hospital. ' The driver was able to say what had happened, enabling the hospital to prepare for the treatment of the child. The driver crossed two intersections in the city with the lights against him. . The only check was when a ‘tram-car turned into the street from a side street. Two doctors were waiting at the hospital, and within a few minutes of the child’s admission its stomach had been pumped clear of the poison. The child, aged two years and three months, is reported to be in a satisfactory condition today.