Dr Tim Malloy Photo: RNZ/Carol Stiles
Rural GP and farmer Tim Malloy was crushed by a quad bike in January as he was moving stock on his hill country property near Puhoi north of Auckland. Travelling at 1 kilometre an hour, he tipped slowly over the edge of a ditch, did a forward roll into it and watched as the bike tumbled on top of him. Dr Malloy sustained 15 fractures to his ribs, a collapsed lung, burns to his abdomen and nerve damage to his leg.
After spending two weeks in intensive care and another in a ward and weeks at home recovering and thinking about his accident, Dr Malloy is calling for evidence-based research to identify how four-wheelers can be modified to make them safe to use in New Zealand conditions.
