Canterbury quake victim tells of survival

The house in the Christchurch suburb of Fendalton in which Simon Robinson was seriously injured during the September 4 earthquake. Photo / Alan Gibson

The most seriously injured victim of the massive September 4 Canterbury earthquake has spoken of his ordeal for the first time.

Simon Robinson, who suffered a broken leg, broken hip, punctured lung and crushed eye socket in the quake, told Prime News of feeling his leg snap when he was crushed by debris from a falling chimney.

Mr Robinson was in bed when the quake struck at 4.36am on Saturday September 4. His wife Debbie, fed up with his snoring, was sleeping in another room.

"I made a couple of paces towards the door jamb and the chimney crashed through the roof," Mr Robinson told Prime News.

"I went down in a very uncomfortable way. I tried to lift up but the only thing that moved was the broken bones.

"I thought I'd be okay as long as I didn't panic," he said. "I didn't think I was going to die."

But he nearly did, with Christchurch Hospital surgeons operating on him for eight hours, after which he was put into an induced coma for four days.

"I think I was very lucky," Mr Robinson said. "From what I can gather, it could have gone either way. It could have gone pear-shaped very quickly."

- NZ Herald staff