Pensioner survives being crushed by jacked-up motorhome

Vehicle fell from jack onto owners head and cracked his skull

Pensioner survives being crushed by jacked-up motorhome
Image: Bigstock.

A man who got crushed by his motorhome while he was working on it has survived following a four-month stretch in hospital.

Keith Tyler, 72, had jacked up his motorhome before fell and landed on him.

His wife Tina watched in terror as her husband managed to pull himself out from under it before collapsing in a pool of blood.

He suffered catastrophic injuries including fractures to his skull and jaw, a blood clot, lungs filled with blood and a ripped ear.

A doctor warned Tina that “he’s not going to make it’, so serious were the wounds.

After four months in hospital, and against all the odds, Keith was discharged from hospital in February and is now on the road to recovery.

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He said: “I feel pretty good truth be told considering I had a four-tonne motorhome on my head.

“I know nothing more after it happened.”

Tina said: “I saw it drop on him. I didn’t know what to do.

“I turned away and shouted for help and phoned 999.

“Keith was in a pool of blood.

“Somehow he got out from under the van and pushed himself out, probably with the adrenalin. His nose was bleeding and he was sort of conscious.

“He stood up and stepped forward and then collapsed by the side of the car.

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“There was blood everywhere. It was very traumatic.”

Emergency crews arrived at the couple’s home in Gosport, Hampshire, in October last year.

Following some improvement, Keith’s heart stopped and had to be restarted at one point and he also became ill with pneumonia.

But on New Year’s Day he was hoisted into a shower and then two days later he was walking.

Keith was sent home on February 1 with him resembling a ‘frail old man’ after losing much of his muscle.

Tina said: ”The doctors said it will be a year or two before he reaches optimal health, though he won’t be as he was before.”

4 Comments

  1. A lucky escape – glad to hear that he is doing reasonably well.
    It would be interesting to hear the full story to see if there is anything new or unusual we can all learn from.

    Reply
  2. Big question is was he using axle stands. So many stories of people being crushed by vehicles by not using axle stands.

    Reply
  3. I was taught a hard lesson aged 14 when I tried to |”help dad with a new exhaust before he came home. One centre jack to lift the car, on hard packed earth. I was shaking and banging hell out of the rust, when a pair of hands grabbed my ankles and hauled me out. Did I get a mouthful from that man who was a heavyweight boxer for ncb anyway. That was 60 years ago this year and I can almost remember every word. He would be arrested for doing that now!

    Reply
  4. The story would be worthwhile news for DIY’ers and some skilled technicians to learn from others unfortunate or stupid mistakes if it explained exactly how the van was jacked/secured/floor surface etc. Many people are injured/killed this way because they don’t use common sense and experience. Very lucky that the individual survived.

    Reply

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