NZ truckie inflated "like a balloon" when on he fell ass first on to air nozzle

[Harley]

http://www.theage.com.au/world/nz-tr...#ixzz1NLT7si9N

Quote:

NZ truckie 'blew up like balloon' after near-fatal compressed air accident
May 25, 2011 - 12:58PM



Doctors say a New Zealand truck driver who inflated "like a balloon" when he fell buttocks-first onto a compressed air nozzle is lucky to be alive.

Steven McCormack was working on his truck at Opotiki on the North Island when he slipped between the cab and the trailer, dislodging the compressed air hose that feeds the brakes.

The brass fitting to which the hose had been attached pierced Mr McCormack's left buttock in the fall, sending compressed air rushing into his body.

The 48-year-old said he felt as if he was going to explode and began to scream as his neck, feet and hands swelled up.

"I was blowing up like a football ... it felt like I had the bends, like in diving," he said. "I had no choice but just to lay there, blowing up like a balloon."

Workmates rushed to Mr McCormack's aid, turning off the compressed air and packing ice around his swollen neck.

Ambulance officers removed the brass nozzle from his buttock and rushed him to Whakatane Hospital, where a surgeon treated the injury and drained one of his lungs, which had filled with fluid during the ordeal.

Mr McCormack said doctors later told him that the air separated fat from muscle and they were surprised his skin did not burst.

Now recuperating in Whakatane Hospital, he said his skin felt "like a pork roast", hard and crackly on the outside but soft underneath.

A hospital spokeswoman confirmed details of the freak accident, which she said could have killed Mr McCormack. "It's fair to say he's lucky to be alive, it was a potentially life-threatening situation," she said.

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