Wednesday, 20 June, 2018
Pakenham
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The scene of the Clyde North accident. 171284
A hero’s anguish A heroic truckie who administered potentially life-saving CPR to a Clyde North plane crash victim has been told to “leave it to emergency services”. Pakenham’s Giles Gibson lost his job as a result of the severe mental and physical trauma he sustained while carrying out the rescue, and now authorities have left him in the lurch. Despite being more than $50,000 out of pocket, Mr Gibson has been denied support from the aviation regulator and the Transport Accident Commission. The father of two also revealed he had 400 hours flying experience in a similar aircraft and held several first aid certificates. In a cruel twist of the knife, Mr Gibson would have been automatically insured by WorkCover if he was behind the wheel of his truck - but it was his rostered day off.
While the TAC covers cars, trucks, trains and taxis, it does not include aircraft in its coverage. The light plane, carrying a 19-year-old student pilot and a 25-year-old instructor, crashed into a paddock on 3 August. Mr Gibson said the ordeal has deterred him from responding to emergencies in the future. “Next time I would just walk away and leave it - it’s simply too much risk,” he said. “To get him out I had to get all of his weight on my side and I was covered in his blood. “I even tore a tendon in my right elbow. “I had the student gasping, dying and the triple-0 operator yelling at me to start CPR - it was all very traumatic.” The student pilot died in hospital but the instructor - who Mr Gibson also treated at the scene - survived. Mr Gibson has suffered ongoing elbow pain
since the incident. He is scheduled in for surgery next week. He conceded that his only option now is to “put his livelihood on the line”. “My only option now is to put my house on the line and sue them,” Mr Gibson said. The aircraft was registered with Recreational Aviation Australia (RAA), which Mr Gibson is also a member of. RAA CEO Michael Linke advised witnesses to call triple-0 and leave rescues to trained authorities. “It is important witnesses wanting to help don’t increase the risk of harm to themselves and other people,” he said. “The best thing to do if you see an aircraft accident is to call triple-0 - our insurance doesn’t extend to third parties and bystanders.”
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