‘Why’s my airbag out?’: Mark details the freak accident that left him injured and trapped beneath a fallen tree in Tuerong

Hayley Taylor
7NEWS
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Mark Stockwell was trapped in a car for 90 minutes, seriously injured, after a tree fell on the Mornington Peninsula in August last year.
Mark Stockwell was trapped in a car for 90 minutes, seriously injured, after a tree fell on the Mornington Peninsula in August last year. Credit: VIC CFA

Mark Stockwell was coming in and out of consciousness when he realised he was trapped inside a car that had been crushed by a massive tree on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula.

“I saw the airbag and thought, ‘Why’s my airbag out? I must have been in an accident,” he said during a reunion last week with the crews who rescued him last August.

Even now, almost six months after the freak accident on Coolart Rd in Tuerong, Stockwell said the memories of his brush with death and those who saved his life, still make him emotional.

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“Words can’t express how grateful I am. Every time I’m at home, I think about all these guys, and I tear up,” Stockwell said, accompanied by his wife and son at the Hastings Fire Station reunion with his rescuers.

“I get to be a dad, and I get to be a husband because of them.”

Stockwell had been driving home during a storm when the tree — as wide as the length of his bonnet — crashed down onto the front of his car.

He was seriously injured when he was found — he couldn’t feel his leg, and there was a pain in his neck and back.

It would take 90 minutes before he would be freed from the wreckage.

The rescue was a joint effort by Country Fire Authority (CFA) members, Victoria State Emergency Service (VICSES), Ambulance Victoria, and Victoria Police.

“The guys were trying to keep me awake, but I kept drifting,” Stockwell said. “I remember one moment of pain, like waking from a dream.”

He said he continues to be “overwhelmed with gratitude for what (the rescue crews) have done and what they continue to do”.

“They have families and could be at home, but instead, they’re out there rescuing people like me. It’s incredible.”

Those involved in the multi-agency response to free Stockwell from the wreckage were glad to see him at the reunion months later.
Those involved in the multi-agency response to free Stockwell from the wreckage were glad to see him at the reunion months later. Credit: VIC CFA

CFA Incident Controller Georgia Densley was one of the people who helped rescue Stockwell, and she said he “stayed calm under immense pressure, which made our job that much easier.”

“It’s incredibly rewarding to see him here today and to witness his recovery firsthand.”

Paramedic Angus Bowden was also glad to be at the reunion.

“Mark was not only trapped but appeared to have sustained multiple traumatic injuries,” Bowden said.

“Being able to reconnect with a patient and see him thrive after such a serious incident is a powerful reminder of why we do what we do.”

Originally published on 7NEWS

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