'I thought I was gone'

George Kavea was left hanging by his seatbelt and thought he was going to die when his truck flipped. Photo / Northern Advocate

A father-of-six thought he was going to die when his milk delivery truck flipped after hitting a black bull wandering on a rural road.

George Kavea has a metal rod in his right leg, a broken foot in plaster and his left leg in a brace as a result of Monday's accident.

"I was scared... I thought I was gone," Kavea said from his Whangarei Hospital bed on Friday. "I thought I was going to die."

The incident happened before dawn at Wheki Valley on State Highway 14 as the 47-year-old drove from Whangarei to Dargaville.

"I was coming round the bend and out of my left eye I caught sight of a cow. The next thing there was another one right in front of me. It was too late to do anything. I went straight into it."

Kavea said his refrigerated truck careered out of control before flipping, landing upside down and trapping him.

When the truck came to a halt he was left hanging by his seatbelt with most of his weight on the belt across his thigh.

It was 10 minutes before anyone came to his aid. A man climbed into the cab and tried to relieve the pressure of the seatbelt on his crushed bones.

Firefighters had to cut Kavea free but he remembers nothing of the rescue.

"They jabbed me and put me out. The next thing I remember is being told I was in an ambulance going to hospital."

The bull died and a second bull had to be put down after being hit by another vehicle shortly after Kavea's crash.

The 6-year-old bulls are believed to have been moved to the paddock the night before, ready for sale that day.

Kavea faces six more weeks in hospital followed by rehabilitation.