Tow truck driver Colin Anderson crushed by mobile home

A Bundaberg tow truck driver has relived the moment he was pinned under a mobile home on the Bruce Highway and what he did to save his own life.

What was supposed to be a “basic job” for Bundaberg tow truck driver Colin Anderson three years ago almost cost him his life when a mobile home rolled off its supports and on to his chest, crushing him.

It was a quiet Sunday afternoon in 2019 when Mr Anderson received a call to help get a stuck mobile home on the side of the Bruce Highway outside of Ban Ban Springs.

“The mobile home had some engine problems and required towing to a workshop in Maryborough,” Mr Anderson said this week.

“It was routine, it was supposed to be a very basic job, hook it up, tow it away,” he said.

After doing the necessary hazard checks, he went to work preparing the mobile home for towing on his Kenworth truck with a hydraulic lifting mechanism.

“The mobile home had broken down and been there for a while, so the airbags in the suspension had depleted, which left the bus sitting very low to the ground,” he said.

Colin Anderson and his wife Frances can no longer travel as planned.

Mr Anderson's only option in shifting the mobile home was to lift it slowly onto 25cm blocks so he could attach the towing attachment under the front axle, he said.

He also used the tow truck to support a majority of the weight of the mobile home while he finalised securing the vehicle.

“After going into the mobile home and confirming the brakes were on myself I was confident to get under the vehicle,” he said.

He said he then climbed under the mobile home, taking the remote control for the tow truck in his left hand and began lowering the vehicle off the tow truck, so he could finalise adding the necessary towing attachments.

“Unbeknown to me the brakes on the mobile home had been released and it rolled off the blocks straight on to my chest,” he said.

A moment of quick thinking was the difference between life and death for Mr Anderson and he used the remote control to lift the mobile home off him so he could escape.

Four wires between 35-70cm long have been inserted in Colin Anderson’s spine, along with a battery powered device to help minimise his nerve pain.

“I was totally breathless, once I got myself out and was able to breathe I knew then I was in a bad way,” he said.

After several calls to emergency services, Mr Anderson was airlifted to the Bundaberg Hospital and admitted with 12 broken ribs, a damaged left kidney, severe nerve damage and a deflating left lung.

Three years later, Mr Anderson is fighting for compensation following the accident.

“His injuries were catastrophic, and it’s unlikely he’ll ever get back a quality of life he should be enjoying,” lawyer Kayla Nolan said.

“We have helped Colin every step of the way through this journey and will continue to do so until he gets the justice he’s spent years fighting for,” she said.

Only a few weeks ago he had a third surgery for nerve damage, which has turned him from an active man in his late 50s to a retired disability pensioner.

“I have been active my whole life, and to go from being so active to doing nothing for the rest of my life is horrific,” he said.