A Powys man was nearly set on fire and stung to death by wasps whilst mowing his lawn over Bank Holiday weekend.
John Rowland from Llandyssil was mowing his lawn over the August bank holiday when he nearly ran into disaster when his ride-on mower, without warning, flipped over.
“Instead of travelling on busy Bank Holiday roads I decided to stay at home and mow our steep lawns with our ride on H 316 AWD mower,” said John.
“I had nearly completed the grass cutting when the mower overturned on me whilst reversing down a steep slope.”
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This spelled potential disaster for John as the mower landed on him – pinning him into the hedge on the edge of the lawn but that was only the start of his problems.
“It pushed me into the hedge lying across my abdomen,” said John. “Petrol started running from the overturned mower directly on to me. My left hip was being branded by the hot exhaust and I had lots of wasps swarming about me whilst I was pinned down.”
The risk was terrifying for John, who added: “At the time it seemed the life was being crushed out of me with the very real danger of being barbecued or dying of severe anaphylactic shock.”
In the haze of pain and panic John managed to get to his phone to ring for help.
“I was losing consciousness and managed to phone for help,” said John.
“The situation seemed so bad if I had been able to move a bit, I would have put my head between my legs and kissed my a*** goodbye.”
Luckily for John, his neighbours managed to come to the rescue him 40 minutes later and pull the machine off him before emergency services arrived to give him much needed medical attention.
Since the accident John has been in recovery and has had to make trips to the hospital while he recuperates. But has been thankful for the help he received from his neighbours.
“I wish I had lived here in Montgomeryshire all my life instead of just 18 years when one’s neighbours are so good,” added John.
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