Factory worker survives being dragged through five-inch gap in machinery that broke his back, pelvis, arm, hips and ribs



Lucky to be alive: Matthew Lowe was dragged through a five-inch gap in a steel processing machine



A factory worker was dragged through a five-inch gap in a steel processing machine - and lived to tell the tale.



As father-of-one Matthew Lowe went through the machine, his back was broken in two places, his pelvis was shattered, both hips and several ribs were fractured and his stomach and bowel were ruptured.



The only sound Matthew heard as his body was torn apart was his right arm snapping.



He was so badly hurt in the accident that his partner was told to 'expect the worst' when she arrived at the hospital where he was taken.



But two years after the near-death experience, Matthew's only visible sign of injury is a weakened right arm.



X-rays show how much metal surgeons had to put into the 25-year-old's body to pin him back together again.



Yesterday, Matthew, from Birdwell, Barnsley, South Yorkshire, said: 'I still don't know how I didn't die.



'As the machine dragged me through I just relaxed because I knew I couldn't do anything and I thought that was the end for me.'



Astonishingly, the machine dragged him all the way through, before depositing him on the floor with his clothes in tatters.



It was then that the pain hit him and other workers raced to help him after hearing his screams.



Matthew, who was a plate welder at the time, was taken to hospital in Barnsley where surgeons stabilised his injuries until he was later transferred to the Northern General Hospital in Sheffield for further treatment.



In all, he spent a month in hospital and had to have six operations to pin his broken limbs back together again.



Although he now suffers occasional panic attacks because of his ordeal, Matthew said: 'I am very lucky to be alive.



'I don't really know how I managed to survive being dragged through such a tiny gap.



'Luckily my head went through a bigger gap before my body was dragged through what was a gap no wider than a CD case.'



Matthew was working at Compass Engineering's factory at Barugh near Barnsley, the firm he had worked for since leaving school, when he was injured shortly before Christmas 2008.



He had been working on a computer-controlled conveyor which moves metal into the factory when he was dragged into it.



Iron man: An X-ray shows the large amount of metal surgeons needed to use to pin Matthew's shattered pelvis back together



He said: 'I was walking away when my overalls were caught up in the machinery and I was pulled backwards.



'My head went one side of the machine but my body was dragged sideways through a gap just five inches wide.



'As soon as the machine got me I knew what was going to happen to I just relaxed and hoped for the best. There was nothing I could do to get away, I was completely trapped.



'In the end it crushed my body, ripped my clothes to shreds and literally spat me out at the other end, but I was still alive.

'I don't know how but I didn't lose consciousness, I just couldn't see for a while afterwards.

'There was no one else in that part of the factory so no could help me. It was only when I fell to the floor and started screaming that two workmen outside came to help me.'



After recovering from his injuries Matthew went back to work at Compass 18 months after the accident and is now training to be a site supervisor.



His partner teaching assistant Kim Swift, 29, mother of their daughter Evie,5, said: 'When I got to the hospital I was told to expect the worst because Matthew was so badly hurt.



'His face was purple and swollen and the whites of his eyes were electric red.



'Despite being so badly injured Matthew was awake and quite alert. It wasn't until later I discovered he had been dragged through this machine.'



Yesterday, there was no one available at Compass Engineering available to comment.



Compass and the German company that installed the conveyor system, used for moving heavy steel beams, are due to face magistrates in Barnsley today.



They are accused of breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act over claims that the machine did not have a safety guard to protect workers from moving parts.

