By Clayton Anderson
There aren’t many bleaker decisions than this – imagine you are a forestry worker, deep in bush on an ordinary day, when suddenly things go very wrong.
An accident sees your chainsaw tear a hole in you and very quickly you are in danger of dying. Your only chance of survival could be the arrival of emergency services.
That’s where Johnny Mulheron comes in – a paramedic with St John’s Ambulance.
Knowing Chris Williams would die if he didn’t act soon to stop the bleeding Mr Mulheron shoved his fist in the gaping wound and kept it there for half an hour.
“He was white as a sheet,” says Mr Mulheron.
Mr Williams was critically injured after being struck by a two tonne tree stump on Tuesday morning, the handle of his chainsaw ripped into his groin.
Mr Mulheron was flown to his aid on a hillside in the Marlborough Sounds.
“He was lying in a recently cleared area of trees, wearing the safety gear. There was a trail of blood from where he had crawled,” says Mr Mulheron.
“He crawled an amazing 20m before he collapsed. I’ve got to find where the bleeding is coming from and remove clothing. I knew I had to put a fist in the area – it is like putting a finger into the dyke. People with those sorts of injuries bleed out and die very quickly.”
Mr Mulheron stemmed the flow of blood for thirty minutes with his fist.
He didn’t think twice about it – it was the best thing he had available and he did it until Chris made it into surgery at Nelson Hospital.
“This was not a time for modesty, we had to get in there and see what's going on. We had some water to clean him up and see what was there and basically I could get my whole fist right in there - nothing else would stem that bleeding.”
Mr Williams is now in Christchurch Hospital where he was again operated on today – his condition is now described as stable.
As for Johnny Mulheron, he’s claiming no special attention – saying he was part of a chain of people who helped save a life.