Taieri dairy farmer recovering after quad bike hit by a car

Taieri dairy farmer John Thornton recovers at home after the quad bike he was riding on the open road was hit by a car. Photo / Shawn McAvinue

The survival of Taieri dairy farmer John Thornton after a quad bike he was riding was hit by a car on the open road is astounding to doctors.

At dusk on June 12, the 79-year-old had fed his 100 dry Holstein Friesian cows on his 60ha farm, Wiganwood, and was riding home on Centre Rd, Momona, when the quadbike was hit from behind by a car, he said.

The speed limit was 100kmh and he was travelling about 20kmh.

“I was just toddling along the road and - bang,” Thornton said.

He was in a critical condition on impact.

“I had to make up my mind if I was going to survive or not.”

The impact from the collision knocked him out and he came to in an ambulance.

He could feel many of his ribs had been broken but was relieved to be able to wriggle his toes.

It was touch and go during the start of his stay in Dunedin Hospital.

Each morning when doctors visited him, they would tell him they were surprised he survived the night.

A list of the injuries he sustained was in a report on his dining table but he could not read anything he held below his nose because his neck brace obscured his view.

“It’s frustrating.”

He hoped the brace could be removed by the end of this month.

A handkerchief had been placed between his chin and the brace to stop his beard from itching.

“It makes it a wee bit better on my whiskers.”

He had used the road to access different parts of the farm most days for the past 70 years, he said.

His family had been dairy farming on Wiganwood since 1916.

It was tough to think about it but his injuries and his age had him considering selling the farm.

“Time will tell. It’ll be interesting to see if I can do the winter feeding, lift a bucket of milk and sit on a tractor and work a bit of ground.”

He had represented New Zealand at the World Ploughing Championships in the 1970s and ‘80s.

The road where the crash happened borders Dunedin Airport.

Before the airport was built in 1962, the road was gravel.

He recalled the days before refrigerators when dust from the road would blow into his family’s meat safe.

Several motorists had fallen asleep behind the wheel and crashed on the section of road.

He had helped recover many of those vehicles using his farm machinery.

A police spokeswoman said inquiries into the circumstances of the crash were ongoing and no charges had been laid at this stage.