Tony Lohmeyer was cycling home after work on State Highway 6 when he approached some roadworks.
With a 15 to 20-knot tailwind pushing him along, Lohmeyer realised he was travelling slightly faster than the cars through the restricted section on the way into Blenheim.
He decided to go inside the road cones, or the “witches hats”, rather than stay with the traffic.
Lohmeyer said this put him in the blind spot of a work vehicle that had also turned through the cones.
“The next I knew, I was being rolled along next to the car and into the trailer being towed behind. The gear inside my backpack suffered quite a lot, but took some of the shock,” he said, adding that his neck was the only unprotected area.
“So within a few seconds I went from being in control, to being totally dependent on whatever help was offered to me. I was laying on the ground, and one of the workmen came over very quickly and stopped me from moving, which probably saved my life.
Lohmeyer could move his hands and legs, but couldn't raise my head, he said.
Lohmeyer's wife Jill recalled getting a call from police. “They said 'your husband's just had a tumble off his bike. He's all right. He can move his arms and legs. We're just putting him in the ambulance now, and they're going to check him out at the hospital.
“So, I thought I'd just take the car and go down to the hospital and pick him up and bring him home. It was a little more complicated than that in the end,” she said.
Tests showed Lohmeyer had dislocated a vertebra and cracked another. Doctors told them that 70 per cent of similar injuries resulted in patients becoming tetraplegic.
Arrangements were made with the flying doctor service for Lohmeyer to be transferred to Christchurch for further treatment, where he underwent surgery to repair the damage.
Seventeen hours after the operation, he was on his feet and walking, and after a further eight weeks in a brace, he was planning to get back to work again after the Easter break.
“My recovery is almost complete, and I would like to thank those involved in my care, because I feel that they really are unsung heroes,” Lohmeyer said.
“They are working very hard, and they should be acknowledged more for what they do. You're not aware of them until you need them.”
He wished to thank the works crew, ambulance and police services, ACC, NZ Fly Doctor Service, and the medical staff in Christchurch.
“How do you say thank you to a vast group of people whose combined efforts have enabled me to resume full function of my limbs, and restored me to the basic lifestyle I had totally taken for granted?” Lohmeyer said.
