don't try this at home

[HS93]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-13537084


     Peter  


25 May 2011 Last updated at 05:02

.New Zealand trucker 'blown up like balloon' by air hose A New Zealand truck driver who fell on a compressed air hose that pierced his buttock has survived being blown up like a balloon.

Steven McCormack had fallen between the cab and the trailer of his truck, breaking the air hose.

The nozzle pierced his buttock and began pumping air into his body, which expanded dramatically.

As he screamed, Mr McCormack's colleagues turned the air off and lay him on his side, saving his life.

The accident happened at Opotiki on the North Island on Saturday.

Mr McCormack, who is 48, is still in hospital in the nearest town, Whakatane.

He said that doctors had told him they were surprised that his skin had not burst, as the compressed air - pumping into his body at 100lb/sq in - had separated fat from muscle.

Continue reading the main story
“
Start Quote
I was blowing up like a football... I had no choice but just to lay there, blowing up like a balloon”
End Quote
Steven McCormack
 "I felt the air rush into my body and I felt like it was going to explode from my foot.

"I was blowing up like a football... it felt like I had the bends, like in diving. I had no choice but just to lay there, blowing up like a balloon," he told the local newspaper, the Whakatane Beacon.

He said his skin feels "like a pork roast", hard and crackly on the outside but soft underneath.

He credits his colleagues, especially Jason Wenham who lay him on his side, with saving his life.

Mr Wenham, Ross Hustler and Robbie Petersen had lifted Mr McCormack off the brass nozzle which was still stuck in his body, and packed ice around his swollen neck until an ambulance arrived.

Doctors inserted a tube into his lungs to drain the fluid and cleared the wound in his buttock using what felt to him like a drill.

"That was the most painful part," he said.

"It's fair to say he's lucky to be alive, it was a potentially life-threatening situation," a hospital spokeswoman told AFP on Wednesday.

Mr McCormack confided that the air was gradually escaping his body in the way that air usually does.

[spuddevans]

Well I've heard the bank of england talk about inflation, but I never realised just how serious it was  


Tim

[DaveH]

Well that does put a whole new facet on a b*** job.

(Someone was bound to say it)

DaveH

[Bogstandard]

I know it is being a bit of a safety nanny, but wherever I have worked and given advice on safety issues, playing about with compressed air, or even blowing down your own clothes (whilst wearing them) was a case for instant dismissal. By law, they don't have a leg to stand on.

People don't realise just how little force is required for air to penetrate the skin and enter blood vessels. There have been numerous cases, mainly against apprentices, where pranks by senior employees, using airlines, has resulted in their demise. Ruptured bowels being the main injuries incurred.

I would say that the chap mentioned was very lucky not to be laying on a slab, being cut open to find the cause of death, where the air bubbles eventually ended up.


Bogs