-
Related
A Blenheim teenager who cheated death in a near-fatal accident on a railway crossing over a year ago has emerged from months of intensive hospital care to thank firefighters who rescued him from car wreckage.
Steven Evans, 19, now a tetraplegic, sat up in his special tilt wheelchair and whispered to the assembled firemen: "I just want to say thanks guys for getting me out of that car."
On September 7 last year Steven's unconscious body was cut from a car after being hit by a train on the railway crossing at Grovetown.
His list of injuries was horrific: brain injury, brain stem injury, spinal and lumbar damage, rib fractures and internal injuries.
Paralysed from the neck down, lying in a coma in Wellington Hospital, medical opinion was unanimous in switching off his life support, but his mother Sheryl Ruffell absolutely refused.
"The bleeding to his brain indicated he wasn't going to survive but I had this vision of him fine and well," Ruffell says.
Life support was turned down but incredibly Steven responded by instigating breathing on his own.
"When they saw he was doing that they had to turn it up again," Ruffell says.
"But they told me he would never come out of the coma and if he did he would be a vegetable the rest of his life."
Three weeks later Steven opened his eyes for the first time.
"I asked him if he knew who he was. I said blink once for no and twice for yes. As soon as he did that I knew we were away."
Ruffell says it was only thanks to the speed and expertise of emergency services on the day of the accident that Steven is here at all.
Steven and best friend Christopher Evans (no relation) were driving over the level crossing at Grovetown when their car stalled and was hit by the twin-locomotive.
Within minutes of firefighters arriving they had cut Steven out of the car.
"Everything went perfectly, we had Steven out in a couple of minutes," recalled station officer Nigel Botham who was in charge of the rescue operation involving two fire engines and 12 firefighters from Blenheim Fire Station.
"For us to see Steven again like this is great because we don't often get to meet people again after being called out. Considering how hard that train must have hit he is obviously doing really well."
Ruffell says Steven had been wanting an opportunity to say thank you for some time.
"He just wanted to thank all the firemen, medics, ambulance staff as well as the unknown passer-by who opened his airways - they all helped to save his life and they were all brilliant."
Steven was reunited with his family at home in Blenheim a few weeks ago after intensive hospital treatment and now has 24-hour care with a total of 10 carers working around the clock with two on each shift.
He still uses a tracheostomy respiratory aid and takes all his food through a tube into his stomach from 5pm to 10am every night, but is making steady progress.
"He has some movement in arms, hands, fingers and legs and is getting stronger every day," Ruffell says.
