NEWS... BUT NOT AS YOU KNOW IT

A farmer had a close brush with death after becoming impaled on a three-foot long forklift truck spike.

It ripped trough Jonathan Willis’s back and exited through his abdomen, but luckily it missed his vital organs by just millimetres.

The dad-of-five was stacking straw bales when he climbed off his JCB to untie straps.

But the vehicle rolled forward — and he was pinned to the bales as the metal fork pierced his body. He writhed in agony, wife his Wendy dialled 999.

Within 25 minutes an air ambulance team was giving him painkilling drugs while firefighters used an angle grinder to cut the fork off the JCB.

Mr Willis, 42, was conscious throughout the horrific ordeal in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire.

Emergency consultant Dr Nathan Howes said: ‘I’ll never forget his sense of humour. It felt like treating a friend.’

With the fork sticking out, Mr Willis had to be propped up for the drive to Addenbrooke’s hospital, Cambridge.

There 30 members of staff operated on him for seven hours overnight. Some had to hold the metal piece from underneath until it was safe to remove.

Dr Emmanuel Huguet, who led the team, said the fork ‘must have pushed major blood vessels out of the way’ as it found an ‘eye of the needle’ route past his right kidney, liver, and pancreas.

He added: ‘Mr Willis was very unfortunate to have his injury, but miraculously lucky the spike didn’t cause life-threatening damage.’

Mr Willis was discharged two weeks after the accident, in October last year. His family has since raised £45,000 for the East Anglian Air Ambulance.

He said: ‘I’m just so, so thankful that so many expert teams were available to help me get through it.

‘Otherwise, I’m sure the outcome could have been very different. I’ll be eternally grateful to everyone involved in saving my life.’

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.

Not convinced? Find out more »

Get us in your feed