Truck driver loses his leg

Recent crashes on the Pacific Highway prompt the request for a crash unit relocation.

TREVOR VEALE

SURGEONS were last night operating on a truck driver who lost a leg in a serious crash on the Pacific Highway north of Valla.

The man told paramedics he had lost feeling below his waist, prompting a delicate rescue.

The accident happened about 10.30am, just past the highway speed camera, north of McGraths Creek, about 10km south of Urunga.

Responding police officers were required to ferry blood to the accident scene, so doctors could perform on-site transfusions.

The man was cut free from the wreckage two-and-a-half hours later and was taken to Coffs Harbour Health Campus in a serious but critical condition.

Police said the Daihatsu tip truck left the roadway, hit a tree and rolled onto its side, coming to rest in a precarious position on the side of an embankment.

The force of the impact brought down a tree on top of the vehicle, blocking the north-bound lane of the Pacific Highway.

Police diverted traffic around the scene as the Nambucca VRA and ambulance crews worked to free the driver.

The accident was the second serious highway crash between Nambucca Heads and Urunga in less than a week and happened just a kilometre south of a fatal accident, which claimed the life of a truck driver in March last year.

Earlier emergency services responded to another truck roll-over on the Waterfall Way, 16km west of Dorrigo, near Deervale.

A refrigerated truck, carrying milk and juice to Armidale, overturned and scattered its load across the roadway about 7.30am.

Police said the driver lost control on a sweeping right-hand bend.

He was cut free from the vehicle and suffered minor injuries.