Michelle Mans
3 Jan 2007, 13:59
'I watched taxi drag my husband for 50m'
January 03 2007
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?from=rss_South%20Africa&set_id=1&click_id=13&art_id=vn20070103132714173C252684
Tammy Carlson, 32, thought her husband's life had come to an end when she saw him being dragged by a taxi.
"As it dragged him along, I was terrified and was screaming," said Carlson, sitting next to her 37-year-old husband Matthew's bed in the large white ICU room at the Union Hospital in Alberton this morning.
On Tuesday, the couple from Selcourt in Springs, were cycling in the emergency lane on the N17 near Springs when Matthew was struck by a taxi.
"I told the driver to stop," Tammy said. "He was stuck to the bumper of the taxi and it was dragging him. It must have dragged him for 50m and I couldn't stand what I was seeing. I screamed so loudly until the taxi stopped. I know I am so lucky that he is still alive because I thought he was going to die."
Matthew said he had not seen the taxi hitting him, but had suddenly found himself lying dazed on the ground.
"I'm lucky to be alive. I don't know how I survived it. I am just grateful to God for saving my life," he said.
As tears streamed down her face, Carlson hugged her five-year-old son Wyatt and became emotional as she recalled the accident.
"I called Netcare 911. My husband was then airlifted to Union Hospital in Alberton," she said.
Carlson said he was also grateful to a passerby who had stopped.
"The man didn't know me but he knelt down and prayed for me. He kept me awake by praying for me."
Both Matthew's hands were swaddled in bandages and his face was covered in bruises on Wednesday.
His most serious injury is a spinal one, but he is in a stable condition.
According to hospital spokesperson Fran Rault, Matthew "suffered a fractured spine but luckily there is no neurological damage".
The Carlsons were preparing for the Cape Epic cycle challenge when the accident happened.
January 03 2007
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?from=rss_South%20Africa&set_id=1&click_id=13&art_id=vn20070103132714173C252684
Tammy Carlson, 32, thought her husband's life had come to an end when she saw him being dragged by a taxi.
"As it dragged him along, I was terrified and was screaming," said Carlson, sitting next to her 37-year-old husband Matthew's bed in the large white ICU room at the Union Hospital in Alberton this morning.
On Tuesday, the couple from Selcourt in Springs, were cycling in the emergency lane on the N17 near Springs when Matthew was struck by a taxi.
"I told the driver to stop," Tammy said. "He was stuck to the bumper of the taxi and it was dragging him. It must have dragged him for 50m and I couldn't stand what I was seeing. I screamed so loudly until the taxi stopped. I know I am so lucky that he is still alive because I thought he was going to die."
Matthew said he had not seen the taxi hitting him, but had suddenly found himself lying dazed on the ground.
"I'm lucky to be alive. I don't know how I survived it. I am just grateful to God for saving my life," he said.
As tears streamed down her face, Carlson hugged her five-year-old son Wyatt and became emotional as she recalled the accident.
"I called Netcare 911. My husband was then airlifted to Union Hospital in Alberton," she said.
Carlson said he was also grateful to a passerby who had stopped.
"The man didn't know me but he knelt down and prayed for me. He kept me awake by praying for me."
Both Matthew's hands were swaddled in bandages and his face was covered in bruises on Wednesday.
His most serious injury is a spinal one, but he is in a stable condition.
According to hospital spokesperson Fran Rault, Matthew "suffered a fractured spine but luckily there is no neurological damage".
The Carlsons were preparing for the Cape Epic cycle challenge when the accident happened.