Ethan Avenell suffers broken ankle, broken arm after Moorvale mine crush incident in Coppabella
The young worker crushed under a falling piece of a mine truck wheel has spoken out to reassure people worried about him he’s doing well despite the injury — and he’s already fought his way out of his hospital bed.
Emergency Services
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The young man crushed under a falling piece of a mine truck on Monday has been left with a nasty broken ankle, two breaks in his arm and a gash to the back of his head, but it could have been much worse.
Moorvale tyre fitter, Ethan Avenell, 18, has spoken to the Daily Mercury after leaving the Mackay Base Hospital, saying it was the bead seat band of the mine truck rim that jumped off and landed on him before midday.
“I got lucky with just a broken ankle and two breaks in my arm, a cut to the back of the head,” he said.
Mine truck tyres can weigh tons due to the immensely heavy loads they need to take.
The beat seat band was closer to 200kg, Ethan said.
The young man now has a moon boot strapped to his leg and a cast to support his broken arm.
His ankle — seen before the boot was put on — was incredibly swollen, showing the damage taken from the injury.
But he’s in good spirits, making his way out of hospital and back home, getting out as quickly as he can despite staff wanting to keep him a bit longer.
“They wanted to hold me for 2-3 days but I hate hospitals so I fought to get out,” Ethan said.
The mine safety watchdog issued a directive to isolate the incident site at Moorvale following the incident.
A Queensland Ambulance Service spokeswoman on Monday confirmed paramedics treated a worker in his late teens for an “significant leg injury”.
An RSHQ spokeswoman said the regulator was investigating the incident.
“We understand a worker’s limb was crushed during activities at the tyre bay,” she said.
“An RSHQ coal inspector is travelling to the scene and has issued a directive to isolate the incident site.”
A spokesman from Peabody, the operator of the Moorvale mine, said a contractor sustained injuries to his lower leg while changing a tyre.
“He was transported to Mackay Base Hospital in a stable condition for further assessment,” the spokesman said.
“We have notified Resources Safety and Health Queensland and will be assisting with their investigation.”
It comes after another worker suffered serious crush injuries at a Central Queensland mine on the weekend.
BMA suspended operations at its Broadmeadow mine when person working underground was impacted by an object.
In January this year a worker died after suffering crush injuries at another BMA site.
Mackay man and racing enthusiast Luke O’Brien, 27, was fatally injured after being pinned between two vehicles in the fuel-bar area at Saraji mine at Dysart on January 15.
This latest incident also comes after a tragic two months in Qld mines where two workers died in separate incidents within three weeks at Byerwen mine at Glenden.
On August 22 Bundaberg grandfather John Linwood died when the light vehicle he was driving and a large haul truck collided at the open cut mine about 1pm.
The 56-year-old Macmahon contractor was the only occupant in the vehicle when the tragedy occurred.
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