‘Under the wheels of the cement truck’: Man’s coma nightmare

Anthony Walsgott woke from a four-day coma with just one recollection from a crash that should have killed him, the wheels of a cement truck going over his head

Popular lawyer Anthony Walsgott on the road to recovery after a horror truck crash earlier this month. He is lucky to be alive but his primary concern is not himself but the huge number of cows he looks after. Photo Patrick Woods / Sunshine Coast Daily.

ANTHONY Walsgott woke from a four-day coma with just one vivid recollection from a crash that should have killed him, the wheels of a cement truck going over his head.

The animal rights activist doesn't know how or why, only when and where it unfolded.

He was flown by helicopter in a serious condition to the Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital and was in an induced coma before being stable in intensive care.

Forty stitches now line his stomach as surgeons threaded his broken body together following the horror June 1 crash along Howard Lane and Landsborough Maleny Rd.

Anthony Walsgott is out of a coma and back at home after surviving a horrific crash at Landsborough Maleny Rd.

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That road was closed for hours that day with photos from the scene showing his mangled utility.

"When I woke from my coma, I had this imagine in my mind's eye of going under the wheels of the cement truck," Mr Walsgott said.

"I still haven't had an interview with police, so as far as I know, my car was run over by a truck.

"I don't know any other details."

Anthony Walsgott is out of a coma and back at home after surviving a horrific crash at Landsborough Maleny Rd.

 

On Sunday, June 7, Mr Walsgott amazingly discharged himself from hospital, essentially ignoring advice from doctors, to be back with his cows.

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Propped up on a seat in the sun of his Booroobin property, Mr Walsgott estimated he wouldn't fully recover for 12 months.

 

Popular lawyer Anthony Walsgott on the road to recovery after a horror truck crash earlier this month. He is lucky to be alive but his primary concern is not himself but the huge number of cows he looks after. Pictured, Anthony's partner Julianne Watson. Photo Patrick Woods / Sunshine Coast Daily.

 

So bad was the toll taken on his body it took him a whole minute to shuffle from the bedroom to the backyard seat.

"I feel like I was hit by a truck," he said plainly.

"It completely knocked the stuffing out of me. I'm incapacitated.

"It took me a minute to get ready just to get outside. It's hard knowing I can't do a lot of things.

"I can't lift. I don't have the energy to drag myself out on to this chair. I'm looking at least 12 weeks before I can really do anything."

 

Anthony Walsgott from Save a cow sanctuary. With Swifty the Jersey bull. Jersey Bulls are considered to be agressive and have killed farmers but Anthony has a close relationship with these bulls he has rescued and hand raised. Pic Megan Slade.

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Now out of hospital, he and partner Julianne Watson's attention have turned to the 80 cows they tend to across five sanctuaries.

They've run the Save a Cow foundation for 10 years, but with Mr Walsgott's poor health, the already financially stricken charity is on its knees.

"This is causing all sorts of financial issues," Ms Watson said.

"The community has shown us a shower of love when I set up a GoFundMe but if it dries up we will be in a bad situation."

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