Woman's quick thinking saves her best friend's life

Rebecca Couchman. Photo / Herald on Sunday

A young mechanic has made a miraculous recovery after being crushed under his ute.

Adam Bekkers, 23, was without oxygen for 10 minutes and slipped into a coma after he was trapped by his beloved Toyota Hilux on Wednesday.

Bekkers was working under the vehicle at the Tauranga home of best friend Rebecca Couchman, where he boards, when it slipped off its axle stands.

Couchman, 29, was with Bekkers when the accident happened.

"He had to do something underneath the car so he went under for about five minutes," she says. I had my back to him for a second and the next thing I heard was a bang. I turned around and he yelled out, 'Becca, help me please. Get it off me, get it off me'."

The mother of two was holding her 5-month-old daughter and medical staff say her quick thinking saved her friend's life.

"Adam was yelling at me, 'Becca, I can't breathe, I'm dying'. And I said, 'Adam, you're not going to die, help is on its way'. Then there was no response - he just went limp."

After pressing her medical alarm to call an ambulance, she called 111 for the Fire Service, sprinted to a local medical centre and grabbed a doctor.

When they arrived, firefighters and ambulance staff used airbags to lift the ute off Bekkers.

Couchman said a paramedic said something along the lines of "he's as good as dead", but the local doctor wouldn't give up hope and continued trying to revive him.

Bekkers was taken to Tauranga Hospital's intensive care unit where he was in a critical condition. But on Friday he woke up and yesterday was well enough to go home.

"On Friday ... it was looking like he might not come out of it," says Bekkers' dad Rodney. "Now he's awake and going home. It's unbelievable."

He says his son has a brain injury - the seriousness of which is not known - and is unable to use his left hand, but is smiling and talking.

"His memory's not that flash and he's easily confused - we tell him what happened, then 10 minutes later have to go through the whole thing again."

Bekkers' sister Jade, 25, was at her brother's bedside throughout the ordeal and says his recovery is "nothing short of a miracle".

She had two soft toys at the hospital, one of which she tucked under his blanket and the other she carried wherever she went, to indicate they would always be together.

Bekkers, described by his father as a "petrolhead", was asking after his ute as soon as he woke up. Couchman and his father now want to raise money to have it repaired.

Rodney Bekkers says he will be forever grateful to Couchman for her actions: "She saved his life. He would be dead if she hadn't done what she did."

Couchman conceded: "I suppose I did save his life - it's an amazing feeling."