An older woman has been airlifted to hospital after impaling herself with a garden stake.
Queensland Ambulance Service Senior Operations Supervisor Nigel Jones said the 83-year-old woman was walking through her backyard at her home at Eli Waters in Hervey Bay holding a garden stake when she tripped and fell Tuesday afternoon.
The woman was home alone at the time of the accident but called out to neighbours for help, who dialled triple-0. Mr Jones said when ambulances responded, the woman was conscious and alert with no significant bleeding.
“She was in very good spirits, and she was able to communicate normally with crew and luckily had minimal pain,” Mr Jones told ABC News.
Responding paramedics rushed her to Hervey Bay Hospital but doctors were unable to safely remove the long metal bar protruding from her neck.
She was flown by the Sunshine Coast-based RACQ LifeFlight Rescue helicopter crew to the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital in a stable condition for further treatment.
RACQ LifeFlight aircrew officer Scott Reeman said the garden tool was about 150 centimetres long and “sticking out of her neck”.
“The metal garden stake was about 150cm long and sticking out of her neck until the hospital medical team cut it back to about 15cm to make it easier to manage her treatment and transfer,” Mr Reeman said.
“Whilst falling, the stake has penetrated her neck, which has resulted in quite a significant injury,” he said.
There have yet to be updates from the hospital regarding the woman’s condition.
