Meet Dr Bill, our crash hero
AN elderly man hit by a car on Christmas Eve may owe his life to Bill Griggs' decision to visit his friend.
AN elderly man hit by a car on Christmas Eve may owe his life to Bill Griggs' decision to visit his friend.
The 76-year-old Modbury man was hit by a car while crossing North East Rd near Tea Tree Plaza on Friday afternoon.
But in a fortunate coincidence Dr Griggs, one of Australia's top trauma doctors, was driving past on the way to visit his friend, and was able to rush to his aid.
Dr Griggs is the Royal Adelaide Hospital head of trauma and 2009 South Australian of the Year.
The man remains in hospital in a critical condition.
"I was just driving along not far behind where it happened. It was just a coincidence that I was there at the time," Dr Griggs told the Sunday Mail.
The coincidence may have saved the man's life.
Dr Griggs helped the Modbury man for the crucial four minutes it took paramedics to arrive. "The man was critically injured and we did a number of life-support manoeuvres on the side of the road," Dr Griggs said.
"He had critical injuries down one side of his body. Basically from his head right down to his leg and everything in between."
With paramedics by his side, Dr Griggs performed potentially life-saving medical procedures on the man.
"We put a breathing tube down to breathe for him and opened a hole in his chest to release tension from a collapsed lung."
It was the fourth car accident Dr Griggs had come across in three days.
"Each time I stopped to make sure everyone was OK but they (the first three accidents) were all relatively minor, and everyone was OK," he said.
But Friday's incident proved quite the opposite.
Dr Griggs was driving along North East Rd with his two pet spoodles on his way to see a friend when he came across the accident.
He said the minutes immediately after a person has been injured could be critical, but wasn't willing to take responsibility for a Christmas miracle.
"We'll wait and see how things turn out.
"He's certainly not out of the woods yet, so we'll just hope that he does all right."
Dr Griggs travelled with the man by ambulance to the RAH, while a passer-by offered to drive his car and his pets to the hospital.
Dr Griggs urged people to take care of themselves and be careful over the holiday season.
"Hopefully there won't be any more bad luck and everyone will be able to enjoy and celebrate Christmas."
The man was crossing North East Rd about 50m west of the traffic lights near the underground carpark entrance when he was hit by a car travelling east.
The man remained in a critical condition last night.
Any witnesses are urged to call BankSA Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.