December 30, 2022 started just like any other day for Lumsden farmer Thomas Hewitt. But everything changed in seconds when the volunteer firefighter slipped while checking a water tank, impaling his upper thigh on a metal fence post.
“Initially, I was frustrated and annoyed I was injured,” recalls Thomas, 37. “Then I ripped my leg off this waratah [a temporary fencing post] and realised my femoral artery was severed and a good flow of blood was coming out.”
With time crucial if he was to survive the life-threatening injury, it quickly dawned on Thomas he was going to have to save his own life.
“I kicked into survival mode,” says Thomas, who’s first priority was to stem the bleeding with a makeshift tourniquet fashioned from the overalls he was wearing. “Stuff I’d learnt through the fire brigade with trauma care was going through my mind at a
