Desperate prayer saved me: injured worker

When Greytown farm worker Hayden McCormick found himself pinned under his ute with the still-spinning wheels burning a hole in his abdomen, a quick word with the man upstairs must have seemed the only way out.

His prayers were answered when the diesel engine finally stalled and he was able to extricate himself.

Mr McCormick had been moving an irrigation line just before lunchtime on Friday and jumped out of the ute, which was still moving in first gear, to shift a temporary electric fence out of the way.

The fence-post was stuck in the ground and before he had time to get out the path of the vehicle, he was pulled under a wheel.

The momentum of the ute propelled the front wheel straight over his leg and the rear driving wheels became stuck on his torso.

Although he was only 50m from the house, his cries for help went unheeded.

At this point, Mr McCormick, who is a devout Christian, asked for a bit of divine intervention - and the engine stalled.

"The wheel was spinning on my guts for about a minute. I thought, 'How am I going to get out of this?' That's when I prayed."

Mr McCormick realised he had to get himself out of trouble.

He ripped off his shirt, which was jammed under the wheel, and inched his way out from under the ute.

He estimated the whole ordeal lasted about 10 minutes.

He limped home and his wife, Sharelle, took him to Masterton Hospital for treatment to second-degree burns on his arm, leg and abdomen.

Mrs McCormick said that at first she underestimated the seriousness of her husband's injuries because he was able to walk back to the house.

"Then I saw the marks and burns and it hit home."

Mr McCormick said he realised he could have been seriously hurt or killed, and his boss had already shown him a new procedure for moving fences in the path of vehicles.

The doctors told him he was "the luckiest man in Wairarapa".

After his return to the farm, Mr McCormick said he still loved living in the country, but there might be a little tension next time he got back in the ute.

- NZPA