15km run to find help

Ken GREEN is to celebrate his golden wedding anniversary today despite cartwheeling 50m down a Wairarapa hillside in a 4WD vehicle on Wednesday ? thanks to his daughter-in-law, who ran 15km with injured feet to save his life.
Mr Green, 71, of Greytown, received chest injuries, a broken arm, seven broken ribs, and a fractured pelvis when the vehicle he was driving left a track just after lunch on the Cross Keys Station farm he part owns near Castlepoint.
Mr Green is now in a stable but serious condition in Wellington Hospital and wife Sheila Green is "too right" determined ? upon the OK from nursing staff ? to celebrate with family the 50 years they have shared as a married couple.
A renowned horse and carriage operator throughout New Zealand, Mr Green has featured in many television advertisements and several international films including The Last Samurai, Lost Children and River Queen.
His son Mike Green and partner Katie Reeves, first-time visitors to the property, had been following Mr Green in another vehicle on Wednesday as he led the way to a holiday bach on the farm.
Mr Green said he and Ms Reeves were behind his father and watched as the wheels on his 4WD locked and "he just disappeared" over the brow of a steep hill on the Cross Keys property.
"We couldn't see him but we heard a crash. I clambered down the bank and it was more and more terrible the closer I got ? I didn't know what I was going to find, how bad things were for Dad.
"His truck was on its side with every window broken, the roof completely stoved in, and all four tyres blown out.
"He was conscious but couldn't move. We could smell fuel so I dragged him out through the rear of the truck. He kept asking if everyone else was all right.
"He was still wearing his seat belt when I found him trapped under his seat. The seatbelt definitely saved him from dying outright, definitely."
Mr Green said there was no cellphone reception at the site and his vehicle became stuck when an attempt was made to bring it closer.
Ms Reeves said she also made her way to the damaged 4WD, injuring her feet and losing the jandals she was wearing in a patch of prickles on the way down the hillside bank.
After a quick discussion she changed into running shoes and clothes and set off to find the nearest farmhouse for help.
"It was so hot and I was angry I couldn't run any faster. The thought of what was behind and why I was running made me keep going, and not stop."
Ms Reeves, who was yesterday still removing prickles from her blistered feet, made the 15km cross-country run in a little over an hour and finally called for help from the Cross Keys farmhouse.
Mike Green said he was overwhelmed at the speed and efficiency of the volunteer fire crew, ambulance crew and paramedics, police and neighbouring farmers, who rallied to the aid of his father.
He said the site was so inaccessible that quad bikes and 4WD vehicles were the only way in and his vehicle became an "impromptu field triage" festooned with drip bags and a defibrillator.
"When I saw the paramedics come over the hill on quad bikes, and I saw Katie, I thought 'you legend'. It was the longest two hours I have ever spent in my life ? not knowing if she made it, if she was lost, or when help was going to arrive," Mike Green said.
"But when help got there, it was incredible. Dad was going deeper into shock and his blood pressure was fading right away but everyone worked so smoothly together, it was astonishing to witness.
"I have no doubt Dad would have died right there without them. They all deserve every accolade ? from the fire crew to the nursing staff ? every one of them."
Dave Greenberg, paramedic with the Westpac Rescue Helicopter, said his emergency crew was despatched about 4pm and had safely transferred Mr Green to Wellington Hospital within two hours.
He said the ground crews in Wairarapa had performed without a fault and Mr Green was "a lucky man" to still be alive given the inaccessible and isolated accident site.