A man has been seriously injured after his Mazda left the road and rolled on the R501 outside of Potchefstroom on Friday afternoon.
When paramedics arrived at the scene, approximately 35 kilometers from the town of Potch, the red Mazda 3 was on the side of the road up against the roadside bushes. The man was sitting in the drivers seat of the vehicle, with the mangled metal all around him. When the paramedics first saw the vehicle they suspected the worst, but the driver was still awake although in a state of shock.
Initial attempts to open the crumple doors did not work so the local Fire and Rescue Services brought in the Jaws of Life to cut the man out. While the rescuers were cutting away, the man was treated for a head injury and multiple other injuries including a broken arm. Paramedics also tried as best they could to remove the large amount of glass he had around his face and in his eyes.
Almost 30 minutes later the patient was freed and he was loaded into the waiting ER24 Discovery Medicopter which then airlifted him to the Milpark Hospital in Johannesburg.
There were no other vehicles involved in the accident.
ER24
