Robert Nelson was using a bobcat to move earth around his Pakenham Upper property when he tipped over the edge of an embankment and rolled 40 metres down a steep cliff earlier this month. Despite extensive injuries, he retains a strong sense of humour.
By Paul Dunlop
A MAN who broke both ankles, shattered his left arm and was left bloodied and bruised from head to toe after a horror accident at home, says he feels lucky.
Robert Nelson was using a bobcat to move earth around his Pakenham Upper property when he tipped over the edge of an embankment and rolled 40 metres down a steep cliff earlier this month.
Concerned family members looked on as emergency service officials worked frantically to rescue him.
Mr Nelson was taken to hospital with multiple fractures and, after a number of operations, will be in rehabilitation for the next several weeks.
His body may be broken, but he retains a strong sense of humour.
“I’ve got two broken ankles, broken elbow and forearm, bruised face bone, various bruises, but I have a good right arm and I feel good under the circumstances,” he said.
“Considering what could have happened, I couldn’t have hoped for better.”
Mr Nelson spoke to the Gazette about the accident last week to send a message to others doing similar jobs to be more cautious.
The pain from the injuries he suffered was unbelievable, the 51yearold said. But worse was the realisation that it was not just him who was feeling the hurt.
“You think about the impact something like this has on your family, on the people around you.
“This is my first serious accident and it does make you take stock. It could have been the tractor, or on the motorbike.
“I’m not quite ready to take up knitting yet, but having maybe permanent injuries might have spoilt my next 30 years. I think this is a good warning to be careful, and to take it a little bit easier.”
Mr Nelson said he was driving his bobcat the same way he had for years — without always paying proper attention to detail — when the unexpected happened.
“I didn’t have my seatbelt on, but worse than that I did what I have done many times before — drove to the edge then tipped the dirt,” he said.
“These can be unstable machines but I didn’t allow for a possible tip forward and, you guessed it, it started to go.
“My first thought was ‘Golly gosh, I’m in trouble now’ or something like that, and then over it went.”
Mr Nelson’s bobcat rolled at least three times down the steep incline and he was thrown out in front as the earth moving machine careered down the embankment.
By an absolute fluke, he said, the bobcat hit a tree and tipped sideways.
“It landed about one metre up hill from me instead of rolling over me which it should have done and in which case I would not be here now,” he said.
Mr Nelson said the incident had changed his outlook on life.
As someone who had always enjoyed the adrenaline rush of sports such as rock climbing, water skiing, horse riding and snow skiing, as well as motorbike riding, some major changes were in store, he said.
“I’ve had a hairy time or three before, all with lucky escapes and just a change of undies,” he said.
“I nearly bought an ultralight aeroplane once, but my wife thought it wasn’t my best idea and now I see the point.
“I’ve made up my mind not to fulfill my dream to overcome the fear of a bungee jump. With all the pins and plates, my feet could still be in the straps but I could have a sore head if my ankles let go.”
