PBF Speakers

John Hunt

Workplace/Road/Youth

John was involved in a crash 27 years ago. He was 28 years old at the time. 

John was married with a son in his 20s and enjoyed spending time with his family and had a passion for water skiing.  He became a truck driver, which required him to go on long distances trips and work away from home often.

One day John was asked by a colleague if he could complete an 8 hour drive, following the 14 hour drive he was currently on. He left the next morning after a full nights sleep to head to the Gold Coast. 32 minutes into the trip, he was going around a corner and over a clearing. John looked into the right hand mirror and saw the trailer lift off the ground about 6 feet in the air.

This indicated that the load on the trailer was shifting and wasn’t secure. The truck then veered off to the left due to a sink in the road, which caused the truck to fall onto it’s side. This threw John out of the drivers seat and into the cab. Once the truck had finished rolling, it slid 180m down the embankment.

Another truck driver and a doctor who were passing saw the truck down the embankment. John heard one of them say “this guy is dead” & he said back “no I’m not – get me out of here”.

The doctor and the other truck driver pulled John out of the truck and laid him on the trailer to stabilise him.

From there the rescue helicopter came and John was air lifted to hospital.

Darron Sheilds

Road/Youth/Workplace

PBF Injury Prevention Manager

“Always focus on what you are doing.”

Life for Darron in general was fantastic and 2002 was going to be a great year! He was a self-employed tradie and he had just returned from a long overseas holiday with the plan to move to Australia.

On 16 May, 2002 Darron had finished work early, so as a keen triathlete, he decided to head out on a training ride leading up to a local competition. This is the day Darron’s world turned upside down. Following a road accident he suffered permanent damage to his spinal cord resulting in paraplegia. Emergency surgery for 10-12 hours pinned fractures in both Darron’s neck and spine. His rehabilitation program took 8 months in hospital, including 8 weeks in a collar to repair the broken bones in his neck.

During this time Darron’s entire life was put on hold, along with my family and friends. As an incredibly motivated person, things eventually moved forward and his dream to live in Australia was fulfilled. Being a little sports mad, Darron now enjoys the sports of para-triathlon and hand-cycling, as they give the freedom of movement that he desires.

Professionally Darron hopes to make an impact on everyone who hears his story through his role with PBF Australia and their injury prevention programs.