A 70-year-old grandfather has described the horrifying moments after an angle grinder blade disintegrated and sliced through his throat.
Retired sheet metal worker, Bill Coles, was working on a fence at his western Sydney property on Thursday when the blade separated from his power tool and severed his wind pipe.
‘I honestly thought I was going to die,’ he told Nine News.
He explained how he contained the innards of his neck with his bare hands while waiting for help to arrive.
‘I was just sitting on the concrete, holding my neck,’ the retired pensioner recalled.
‘(I was) holding it shut, holding it really really tight.’
‘I wouldn’t like this to happen to anybody, it’s really really bad.’
Bill Coles, 70, has described holding his neck together with his hands after his wind pipe was sliced by a flying angle grinder blade at his Western Sydney home on Thursday
Mr Coles was left with no choice but to feed himself through a tube after the blade disintegrated and severed through his throat
When she discovered her husband, Jean also thought his fate was sealed: ‘I thought he was gone,’ she said.
‘There was nothing I could do…nothing anyone could do.’
Paramedic Brian Parsell echoed the couple’s concerns, confirming that Mr Coles was incredibly lucky to survive the ordeal.
Lucky to be alive: Mr Coles remembers thinking he was going to die while trying to contain the bleeding
‘We actually needed to put the man into an induced coma so we could manage his breathing and look after his airway while he was on the way to hospital,’ he explained.
Mr Coles’ daughter, Crystal, said she was just grateful she wasn’t planning her father’s funeral.
Careflight, a critical care service, sent a helicopter to the address and landed in a nearby park at 9.15am – less than ten minutes after a call was made.
Mr Coles’ daughter, Crystal (above), said she felt grateful she wasn’t planning her father’s funeral
Careflight, a critical care service, sent a helicopter to the address and landed in a nearby park at 9.15am – less than ten minutes after a call was made
Paramedics said the man received deep cuts to his throat after an angle grinder blade disintegrated while he was fixing a fence at St Marys in Western Sydney
A specialist doctor and paramedic on board treated him at the scene before he was placed in an induced coma and intubated to manage his breathing.
He was rushed to Westmead Hospital in a serious but stable condition.
Mr Coles’ treatment is ongoing and he’s expected to undergo further surgery.
A specialist doctor and paramedic on board treated him at the scene before he was placed in an induced coma and intubated to manage his breathing