Injured newsman hoping for plain sailing

Stuart Alexander is not letting his injuries slow him down. Photo / Brett Phibbs

Although he is not yet back on the high seas, veteran British sailing journalist Stuart Alexander is up and writing after being run down by an Auckland driver.

Alexander, a well-respected sailing correspondent with the Independent in London, was back at the Viaduct Harbour in Auckland reporting on the Louis Vuitton Trophy regatta at the weekend, less than three weeks after being run over and seriously injured on his way to the Emirates Team New Zealand base.

With his right arm in a sling and his left leg in a brace, Alexander was tapping out stories on the edge of the harbour. "Despite advice to the contrary, I'm back at work. I was really determined to get down here and get back into it, and I made it in time to see the British team eliminated," he said.

TeamOrigin's run in the regatta ended before the semifinals.

On March 2 - his 65th birthday - Alexander was walking to the Team NZ headquarters at the Viaduct Harbour when a four-wheel-drive vehicle hit down. It was reversing as Alexander was crossing the street, and ran over his right leg twice.

Miraculously, no bones in his leg were broken, but his list of injuries was lengthy - three broken ribs, a broken sternum, dislocated collarbone, punctured right lung that was partially collapsed, and deep wounds to a knee and elbow that required a number of surgeries.

He spent 11 days in Auckland City Hospital in the high-dependency unit and general surgery ward and was highly impressed with the care he received.

"In emergency, they were the most phenomenal team - up to 15 doctors and nurses at any one time," said Alexander, who has been sailing correspondent at the Independent since the newspaper was founded in 1986 and has covered every Olympic Games and America's Cup since.

In thanks, he gifted a Louis Vuitton Trophy poster signed by all the skippers to the nursing team on Ward 78. "I've had such fantastic support from the sailing and journalism communities and from Louis Vuitton."