Qld: Injured MP tells of accident

AAP General News (Australia)
08-28-2001
Qld: Injured MP tells of accident

By Paul Osborne

BRISBANE, Aug 28 AAP - Queensland Independent MP Peter Wellington thought his legs
had been chewed by a dog last month when he lay in agony trapped under his own bulldozer.

But five weeks and seven operations later, Mr Wellington has taken his first tentative
steps down a hospital corridor and returned to his property at Bell, in the Sunshine Coast
hinterland.

He also plans to take his wheelchair into the Queensland Parliament, which has been
specially modified, next month.

Mr Wellington was trapped under an overturned bulldozer on his family property for
more than seven hours on July 22 after roots from a tree he was trying to clear got stuck
under the blade and destabilised the dozer, causing it to roll.

The 44-year-old MP for the Sunshine Coast hinterland seat of Nicklin was found just
after nightfall by his father who went looking for him after his wife became concerned.

Ambulance officers said when they arrived Mr Wellington was barely conscious and having
difficulty breathing.

"I can still vividly remember after the accident looking at my legs and saying: 'By
crikey, when my wife finds me tonight and we finally get to hospital there will be no
legs'," Mr Wellington told reporters today at his first media conference since the accident.

He said his legs looked "like a dog had chewed them".

"As soon as you moved it was like a lightning strike through your body," Mr Wellington said.

"I realised that I had to be patient and wait for the day to go and my wife to find me."

He was airlifted to the Nambour Hospital and treated for multiple fractures, including
broken legs and a broken collarbone.

After his transfer to Brisbane's Wesley Hospital he underwent a further seven operations
including a complicated procedure involving the transplant of muscle from his back to
his legs.

Since he was hospitalised, Mr Wellington has received more than 1,000 cards and letters
from well-wishers, including Premier Peter Beattie, who also loaned the MP a number of
senior staff to help in his electorate office.

"Sometimes when you are a politician you feel you are in a fishbowl and that every
time you look sideways they are going to have a go at you.

"It was a real humbling experience - to see people, many who I have never met before,
writing letters of support and praying for you."

One of his legs is currently in a Russian-made frame similar to that used by motorcyclist
Mick Doohan after his accident.

Wesley Hospital orthopaedic surgeon Peter Steadman said Mr Wellington faced two or
three more operations.

"We are 90 per cent of the way there," Dr Steadman said.

He said Mr Wellington could be back on his feet but using crutches in three months,
walking without crutches in six months and walking normally within two years.

AAP pjo/sc/cjh/br

KEYWORD: WELLINGTON NIGHTLEAD (PICS AVAILABLE)

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