INJURED MAN DISAPPEARS FROM AMBULANCE

Wanganui Chronicle, 27 August 1946, Page 6

INJURED MAN DISAPPEARS FROM AMBULANCE

(P.AJ Auckland. Aug. 21. After crashing over a low bank in a motor-car near Henderson on Saturday afternoon, the driver, although suffering from serious head injuries, disappeared from a St. John ambulance outside the main entrance of the Auckland Hospital just before he was to be admitted. Up to a late hour he had not been traced by the police. The motor-car, an eight horsepower saloon owned by Mr. Noel Gardiner, was taken from High Street on Saturday afternoon. The driver, whose identity is now known to the police, was attended by a local doctor and placed on an ambulance, u hich was passing through Helensville to Auckland with a medical case. It was thought he was suffering from concussion, and possibly a fractured skull. After arriving al the Auckland Hospital with his two patients the ambulance driver went inside to report, and came out with the doctor. The injured man was still lying on a Stretcher in the ambulance when the doctor interviewed him. He refused to disclose his name. The doctor decided he should be admitted to the hospital immediately and then went away. The ambulance was then driven a few yards toward the main doors of the hospital and the driver went to the office to ascertain the ward to which the man was to be taken. When he returned, a minute or two later, the patient, had disappeared. The other patient in the ambulance stated that as soon as the driver left the injured man said he was going over the road to buy some cigarettes. He then left the stretcher. He was fully clothed and he left behind an overcoat.