Drink saved crash victim

Photo: Chris Hillock

Doug Foster yesterday at the road in Stratford where he was hit by a ute.

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As far as drinking stories go, Doug Foster reckons he's got one of the best. He'd had such a skinful when he was hit by a car in a 100kmh zone, he got up without feeling a thing.

Foster, 24, spent most of last Saturday afternoon toasting friends Nathan Robertson and Lisa Miller at their engagement party in Stratford, Taranaki.

By 10pm, Foster and friends were at a local drinking spot and, even after the 15-minute walk there, Foster said he was still "highly intoxicated".

He'd drunk about a dozen beer and "heaps of shots of vodka and Kahlua".

About 2.30am, despite an offer of accommodation from a mate, Foster decided, for the first time ever, to walk home, 4km west along Opunake Rd.

Two hours later and with just 100m to go, Foster was hit from behind by a bullbar-fronted ute.

"I didn't have any idea where I was at the time," Foster told Sunday News.

"I can't remember s**t about walking home... I was in blackout mode. One step forward and five steps sideways sort of thing.

"I remember hearing the tyres lock-up then I felt the car hit me. I must have snapped out of it when I heard the brakes.

"The bullbar hit me on the ass, I've got a nice big bruise on my ass, it sort of threw me ... someone said about 15m but I don't know if that's right."

Foster doesn't remember being airborne, just hitting the ground. He landed on his arm, hurt his rib, skinned a knuckle and "almost buggered my cellphone".

When he stood up, he was blinded by the vehicle's lights and "kind of put things together and thought, `Oh s**t'.

"I turned around and the driver said, `What the hell were you doing in the middle of the road?', and I was like `I don't know mate'.

"I was pretty p***ed. I just wanted to go home and go to bed. He was pretty shaken up. He said, `Are you okay, are you okay?', I said, `Yeah I just want to get to bed'."

Stratford constable Heath Carlson said he couldn't believe Foster wasn't killed or at least seriously injured. "I've been to a few (accidents) where they've been hit at 20km/h and been left paraplegics. It's just amazing," he said.

Land Transport New Zealand statistics show there is a 40 percent chance a pedestrian will die if hit by a car travelling at 40kmh. That rises to 90% if the car is doing 60kmh and LTNZ says it's invariably fatal at 70kmh.

After the accident, Foster said the driver took him home where he went to sleep before being woken by an ambulance officer who wanted to assess him. A police officer turned up and Foster was checked over and taken to Taranaki Base Hospital. "He (the ambulance officer) checked my blood pressure, my eyes... I took a bit of convincing to get in the ambulance and go to the hospital.

"I was ready to crash out. I'd had enough of that night."

Foster spent most of Sunday in hospital before being released.

Hospital staff told Carlson that Foster's intoxication may have saved his life because it prevented him from tensing up.

Foster said his friends have told him he should buy a Lotto ticket.

"I like to drink and it's one of the better stories to tell. My friends say, `I suppose you think you're invincible now?' and I'm like, well... umm. I guess I'm pretty lucky.

"But I don't see the point in being superstitious. I'll just carry on like it didn't happen."

Foster said as much as alcohol had helped him avoid serious injury, it was also to blame.

"You could say that being drunk put me there in the first place, so its six of one and half a dozen of another."

The accident isn't Foster's first brush with death. Three years ago, he walked away after two crashes months apart.

- © Fairfax NZ News