Zac Wells honours the LifeFlight team that rescued him after horrific workplace accident

A Toowoomba man who was pinned to the hot bitumen as a road roller gradually crushed him in a horrific workplace incident credits LifeFlight with keeping him alive and giving him the best chance to walk again.

A worker who was crushed by a road roller in a horrific workplace incident has paid tribute to the LifeFlight crew that he credits with saving his life.

Zac Wells was building a road near Roma in December 11, 2021 when his ankle was pinned under the roller and was crushed up to his chest.

Along with multiple fractured bones, the Toowoomba man also suffered serious burns from the hot bitumen.

They were injuries that could have killed or robbed him of the use of his legs.

But he was able to call on the services of an RACQ LifeFlight rescue team that flew him to the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital where he underwent seven surgeries to repair more than 20 fractures.

“I was conscious through the whole thing because I never suffered a head injury and the roller got from my ankle to my shoulder blades,” Mr Wells said.

Flight doctor Matt Klan with past patient Zac Wells and his wife Heidi Glover-Wells.

“They had given me quite a bit of pain relief, but I do recall being told LifeFlight would be there soon and I remembered the doctors saying they were with LifeFlight.

“I knew what had happened and I knew that the injuries were horrific.

“You don’t get away from that sort of accident and in the back of my head I was thinking it might have been a waste of the flight.

“I didn’t think I would make it to Brisbane.”

Mr Wells faced a long road to recovery with six weeks in the burns unit followed by four weeks of rehab.

“That got me onto crutches some of the time and a wheelchair most of the time before I could come home,” said.

On Thursday Mr Wells and his wife Heidi Glover-Wells were special guests at the launch of the countdown to the LifeFlight Toowoomba Gala ball where they reunited with the team that saved his life.

Zac Wells suffered multiple injuries after he was crushed by a road roller while working near Roma.

He spent six weeks in the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital’s burns unit followed by four weeks in a rehab ward.

Mr Wells said he would encourage anyone to donate to the lifesaving charity as you never know when you may need them.

“If they did not save my life they certainly saved my quality of life,” he said.

“It is something you never expect to have happen and it is something you could never say thanks properly for.

“As big Toowoomba is we still don’t have the specialists for a major traumatic injury and certainly west of here it is a long bumpy road to get anyway.

“LifeFlight is a huge part of keeping a lot of people alive each year.”

The meet and greet marks the start of the countdown to the Toowoomba Gala, on May 6 at The Good Shed.

Tickets are sold out but supporters can join the waitlist or get involved remotely, via the silent auctions.

See the LifeFlight Darling Downs Community Facebook page for details.