Trapped man saw sunset's beauty

Last updated 22:40 12/01/2009

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SURVIVOR: Devid Cudicio recovers in Hutt Hospital after being trapped under a rock at Kaihoka Point.

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Lying in agony with broken bones, his legs and pelvis pinned beneath a 600 kilogram boulder, Devid Cudicio could not help noticing the beautiful sunset and sound of the oystercatchers.

"I still have flashbacks about how beautiful the evening was. It was incredible. You know like the moon, the purple orange light. It was a weird situation."

The 32-year-old Italian, who lives in Auckland, had been collecting paua with his partner, Naomi Singer, and friends at Kaihoka Pt near Farewell Spit on December 30. They were returning to their car about 7.30pm, rock-hopping along a bank above the ocean.

But the bank gave way and Cudicio tumbled to the rocks below, becoming trapped beneath a dislodged boulder.

Friends tried to push the huge rock aside but it was too heavy.

Cudicio's right leg was badly broken, as was his left wrist. His left leg was ripped open in a "gaping wound" and he lay screaming in pain trapped for nearly five hours with an incoming tide.

Doctors told Cudicio if the the rock had hit him a few centimetres lower it would have severed an artery, causing him to bleed to death. A few centimetres higher and it would have crushed his spiner.

Now recovering at Hutt Hospital after three operations, he said he was only likely to suffer scarring.

Moments before the accident, fisheries officer Jock Wyllie checked the group's haul, finding four under-size paua, but letting them off with a warning.

With no cellphone coverage in the isolated spot, a friend chased after Wyllie, who radioed for help.

It took two hours for paramedics to reach the scene and firefighters eventually used airbags to lift the boulder enough so rescuers could pull him free.

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