BLESSED: Senior Constable Angelo Maccagnini from Yarra Glen police (left) was reunited with Black Spur crash By DION TEASDALE
THE survivor of a headon collision between a semitrailer and a tree on the Black Spur has sung the praises of Yarra Valley emergency service personnel.
Terry Hutchinson, 65, from Doreen, narrowly defied death last month when the semitrailer he was driving slid off the notoriously windy stretch of road between Healesville and Narbethong.
He was travelling west along the Black Spur on Wednesday, 3 August, shortly after 1pm when his semitrailer ran off the road, collided with a tree and slid down an embankment.
The accident sparked a major emergency response involving police, CFA, SES and Metropolitan Ambulance crews from across the Yarra Valley and the Black Spur was closed to traffic for several hours.
Mr Hutchinson was trapped in the cabin of the semitrailer for an hour before being freed by emergency service personnel and was taken to the Maroondah Hospital by ambulance with only minor injuries.
At the time, Sergeant Tony Van Gorp from Healesville police described Mr Hutchinson’s experience as a ‘miracle escape’ and the story made the front page of the Mountain Views Mail.
Last week Mr Hutchinson returned to the Yarra Valley with his wife, Joy, to personally thank Senior Constable Angelo Maccagnini from Yarra Glen police.
“Sen Const Maccagnini and his colleagues showed tremendous compassion and concern for my wellbeing and that of my wife and family and that means a lot to me,” Mr Hutchinson said.
“Emergency personnel do such a wonderful job helping people who find themselves in trouble and they don’t get thanked enough.
“I can’t sing the praises of the police, the SES, the CFA and the ambulance service enough.”
Mr Hutchinson, who sustained small lacerations to the top of his head and on one elbow, and required a total of 26 stitches, said he feels more than lucky to have survived the collision.
“I’m blessed. After getting out of the truck with only a few scratches I know there is a God and that I’m being looked after,” he said.
Sen Const Maccagnini said he was delighted to see Mr Hutchinson doing well after the accident.
“When I first arrived at the scene of the collision I thought nobody would get out of the wreck alive,” he said.
“I remember when Terry was pulled out of the truck I was surprised to see he was relatively unharmed.
“I expected things to turn out a lot worse for him.”
Surviving the collision on the Black Spur is just one of Mr Hutchinson’s lucky escapes.
In 1971 he survived exposure to an exploding petrol tank but sustained serious injuries to three fingers and had to have plastic joints inserted into his left hand. In 1981 his left leg was almost completely severed when a steel beam rolled off the back of a truck and in 1987 a metal grinder sliced into Mr Hutchinson’s face, leaving him with a large scar down his chin.
Then in March this year, Mr Hutchinson underwent surgery for prostate cancer.
“I guess I’ve been in the wrong place at the wrong time a few times in my life and some how I’ve come through. People say I’m like a cat with nine lives,” Mr Hutchinson said.
However wife Joy responded: “Terry might have nine lives, but I don’t have nine hearts, so I’m hoping this is the end of the close shaves for a while.”
