Injured woman saves man from burning car

Emergency services are hailing as a hero a Marlborough vineyard worker with a broken foot in a cast who slid down a bank to pull a man from his car moments before it was engulfed in flames.

Birdie Badman, 31, managed to shuffle her way down the bank and pull Steve Hartshorne, 47, from his wrecked company car yesterday afternoon, the Marlborough Express reported today.

Just moments before, both had passed each other driving over the Weld Pass on State Highway 1, 10km south of Blenheim.

Mrs Badman, from Seddon, said she saw his car, in her rear vision mirror, veer off the road and roll over the barrier down a steep bank.

She turned back immediately to help

She said she did not even have a chance to think about the pain in her foot.

"I just had to get the guy out of the car because I saw the flames underneath."

She was unable to walk on her broken foot, so she shuffled her way down the bank "sliding on my butt as quick as I could and forced the door open" and pulled Mr Hartshorne to safety.

Mr Hartshorne was shaken up over the incident, suffered neck pain and was taken to Wairau Hospital, in Blenheim, with minor injuries.

Senior Constable Robin Stocks, of Blenheim, said Mrs Badman's quick actions saved Mr Hartshorne's life and she was a hero.

Mrs Badman broke her foot after dropping a large steel gate on top of it in a vineyard a fortnight ago.

- NZPA