By JESSE GRAHAM
A FERNTREE Gully man was airlifted to hospital on the weekend after being caught under an out-of-control car on a rural property in Cockatoo.
At 4.45pm on Sunday 1 May, the 30-year-old man was helping a friend at the Cockatoo property to tow a bogged car on a steep hill, when the towing rope snapped.
Emerald police Senior Constable Craig Harvey said the car slid down the hill, which was about 100 metres long, and the man tried to climb out of the car.
“He got caught in the car door, went under the car, got dragged down the bottom and came to rest in thick bushland at the bottom of the hill,” he said.
Emerald police, SES and paramedics were joined by CFA crews from Cockatoo, Pakenham and Monbulk, as well as Dandenong’s high angle rescue team, to rescue the man.
“He had to be carried out by hand,” Sen Const Harvey said.
Emerald SES controller Ben Owen said the man was carried by emergency services crews to a waiting helicopter, and he was flown to The Alfred hospital.
Sen Const Harvey said the man had non-life threatening injuries, but was suspected to have a punctured lung.
