And I thought, "Oh, no, I’ve stuffed up big this time." And the rest of the next two weeks is a bit of a blur due to the anaesthetic drugs. I could still feel my arms and my legs so I thought I still had legs. PETER O’LAUGHLAN: I remember waking up in the intensive care area looking down, seeing that my arms were gone. PHIL ASHLEY-BROWN: What do you remember of that time? His kidneys were failing and he was in danger of dying. PHIL ASHLEY-BROWN: When you saw Peter come into the hospital that day what was your initial reaction?.ĭR CLIMAN: Well, I thought that this was a man who was severely shocked. He suffered serious burns when his hang glider hit power lines near Cessnock.ĭR CLIMAN: I’m Doctor Leon Climan, I was the orthopaedic surgeon on call at the John Hunter Hospital the day of the hang gliding incident. A hospital spokesman says the man’s arms and legs are being amputated in a bid to save his life.
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UNIDENTIFIED: A thirty-eight year old man is undergoing surgery at Newcastle’s John Hunter Hospital following a hang gliding accident over the weekend.
#Hang glider accident full
They took me to John Hunter Hospital where I think I used up the full trauma resources of the hospital for the operation to take my arms and legs off. One of my wings hit the power line and my legs hit them as well which caused a circuit and I suffered fairly major electrical burns.Īn ambulance was called and then the Westpac Rescue Helicopter came out. PETER O’LAUGHLAN: I came into land in a paddock that I’ve landed in before, but the wind direction was different to when I normally land in there and as I was coming in on final I got knocked above some power lines, forgot they were there, and turned back over them. Police say the accident occurred when the man’s hang glider hit power lines. The man suffered severe burns to both his arms and legs. UNIDENTIFIED: The Hunter’s Westpac Rescue Helicopter has airlifted a man to Newcastle’s John Hunter Hospital after his hang glider hit power lines near Cessnock. Phil Ashley-Brown of ABC Local Radio in Newcastle has been following Peter’s story. Doctors told his family he was unlikely to survive surgery and even if he did his prospects weren’t good at all.īut despite losing most of his mobility, Peter has again taken up hang gliding and is seen as a role model in the community he lives in. Two years ago 40 year old Peter O’Laughlan lost both his arms and legs when his hang glider hit power lines in the New South Wales Hunter Valley.
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Hang-glider with disability a local role modelĬOMPERE: But out of some horrific sports accidents comes stories of determination and the human spirit struggling against the odds, similar to what those families are doing from Interlaken at the moment.