ANDREW Rachow was working with heavy machinery on a rural property in Ebenezer to support his growing family but instead it nearly cost him his life.
He’s a FIFO worker who occasionally works casual jobs when at home.
Two weeks ago, a job took a horrifying turn and the timing couldn’t have been worse.
“I unchained a set of ramps when I went to load something and found myself in a tricky situation,” he explained.
“One of the ramps has thrown me underneath the other, they’ve come down and crushed my pelvis.”
Medical staff diagnosed the injury as an open book fractured pelvis. It is considered a rare and life threatening injury.
The hardworking tradie was unable to tell the Moreton Border News all the details surrounding the accident because it’s being investigated by Occupational Health and Safety.
What he can say is it was the weight of machinery that crushed him from his chest to his lower limbs.
“My hip fractured, there was a fibular fracture [lower leg] and a fracture to my patella [kneecap] as well,” he said.
“My whole left side is completely toasted.”
Andrew lost consciousness for “a second or two”.
“I remember trying to get up and my mate running over to help me,” he said.
“He lifted the ramp off and I’ve crawled out to safety.
“He phoned triple zero right away.”
When the ramp dropped on him, his head smashed into the ground.
“There was a lot of bleeding internally and I have a broken nose as well,” he said.
“They pulled the ramp off me right away then went through recovery procedures as we’d been taught in first aid classes.
“When the paramedics arrived, they put me in a pelvic binder, a tourniquet that goes around your hips. They tie it tight and lock it in place.
“That was extremely painful even with a lot of medication on board.
“I discovered my limit in pain because it became so bad I physically couldn’t even scream.”
His body was so badly crushed, blood filled areas under his skin.
“My friend asked me to squeeze his hand and wiggle my toes. I could do both so that was a relief,” he said.
“The ambulance arrived 15 minutes later and I was taken to the Prince Alfred Hospital.”
Adding stress to injury, his wife Ebony was a week overdue with their third child.
Ebony went into labour the day after he was injured and gave birth to a healthy baby girl.
Andrew is still in hospital and faces a long recovery with rehabilitation needed before he is fit and healthy again.
He said he was confident his job in the mines would be there when he’d recovered enough to resume duties.
Not being able to work and unable to claim through his insurances, Andrew and his family are in a difficult situation.
“My role is taking care of my wife and children, that’s why I work away in the mines,” he said.
“The work I was doing [when the accident happened] was a more of a side project on a week off.”
He had income protection on his super fund but said those payments weren’t even a quarter of what he had been earning each week.
Boonah hairdresser Sammy Grodecki is a good friend of the couple and has set up a Go Fund Me to help them with finances while Andrew recovers from his injuries.
“I’m not covered as far as work insurance goes because I was on a private site,” he said.
“We have a large family who are very supportive and are helping Ebony while I am in hospital.
“The Go Fund Me Sammy set up will help us keep up with bills while I’m unable to work.”
