Joseph Chatwin's Long Road To Recovery: Car Crash Victim

"A two-vehicle crash in Bombay, south of Auckland, has left one person in a critical condition."

Ref: New Zealand Herald 28 Apr, 2021 05:05 PM

This unfolded for our family on the 28th April 2021, Joseph Chatwin was involved in a serious car accident on Portsmouth Road in the Bombay's, Pukekohe. Joe was travelling through a Stop Sign at a large intersection with little visibility of a vehicle travelling towards him at high speed.

Joe was T-boned with extreme force causing the vehicle to be pinned up against a concrete wall. The direct impact caused him to be trapped in his vehicle with his foot stuck on the accelerator and unsure of his condition. FENZ were required to use the Jaws of Life to extract him from the vehicle.

Ambulance staff assessed Joe to be Status 1 and transported to Middlemore Hospital by the Westpac Helicopter team. On arrival to Middlemore Hospital and due to the severity of his injuries, Joe was placed into an induced coma as they diagnosed the extent of his injuries. Joe's injuries included a broken Femur in 3 places, an lacerated Diaphragm and a collapsed Lung. Due to his Diaphragm being torn, his internal injuries were severe. His Intestines were dislodged underneath his left-hand side Rib Cage and his Liver was pushed up into the right-hand side Rib Cage.

Joe was taken into surgery to repair and reposition his Internal Organs which took over 6 1/2 hours to complete. His 2nd surgery was followed the next day to repair his broken Femur in 3 different places which also took over 61/2 hours.

Unfortunately due to the severity and body trauma to his Internal Organs Joe was kept in ICU as Doctor's were concerned with the amount of pain Joe was suffering and discovered his Internal Organs have not been working correctly leading to a blocked Bowel and Joe's Stomach is in "sleep-mode" and not working at all. Joe has had 2 further surgeries since and is being feed through tubes as his body is unable to process or work as usual due to the damage caused to his Internal Organs.

Joe's road to recovery is going to be a long process, not only for him but his Family and their Business.