Teen’s cool reaction saved dad’s life
Justin Barnard demonstrates on his older brother, James, how he used his belt to stem the life-threatening flow of blood after his father's leg was almost severed by the blade of a tractor mower. They are on the steep slope where the accident happened. Picture: Keith Ross Justin Barnard demonstrates on his older brother, James, how he used his belt to stem the life-threatening flow of blood after his father's leg was almost severed by the blade of a tractor mower. They are on the steep slope where the accident happened. Picture: Keith Ross
A young man’s cool head and “instinctive” reactions probably saved the life of his father, after his lower leg had been almost completely severed by the blade of a tractor mower that had overturned.
The mower’s single blade had slashed the right leg of Allan Barnard, 55, below and above his ankle, and left him bleeding profusely from sever-ed arteries.
He was in danger of bleeding to death when his son, Justin, 19, rushed into their home, got a belt and tied it tightly round his leg beneath his knee.
“I just acted instinctively – seemed to know what to do,” said Justin, who has had no medical training. “I just kept on holding that belt and talking to my father – he was conscious throughout – until the medics arrived.”
Justin said his father’s leg was almost completely severed.
“It was just held on by some skin and tissue”. His father was also acutely aware of his plight. “He kept saying: ‘I’m going to bleed to death.’”
The near-death drama started after Allan Barnard decided to cut the back lawn of the family’s home in Surprise Ridge Road, Hillcrest, on Wednesday.
He was cutting the grass on a steep slope when the tractor mower went out of control.
“I think the mower started to turn over and he tried to jump off, putting his leg into the cutting space,” said Justin.
“I don’t know why it happened. He has cut that lawn so many times before. My parents have lived in this house for the past 21 years.”
Justin is modest about the part he played in saving his father, but he was described as a “hero” by his mother, Charmain.
“He was so cool,” she said. “I’m afraid I lost it completely from the time I heard my husband scream. But Justin looked after him.”
Justin pressed the panic button to Enforce, and gave his father moral and physical support until help arrived.
“The medics said his prompt action could well have saved his father’s life.
Allan Barnard was taken in a critical condition to the Hillcrest Private Hospital, where he has undergone surgery twice to save his leg.
“The doctors won’t tell me at this stage whether he will lose his leg,” said Charmain, “but I think he will pull through.”
She said doctors had predicted her husband would never walk again after he shattered the same leg in a motor accident in Westville in 1998.
“They were wrong. Within a year he was walking without crutches,” she said.