12yo Queensland boy was crushed under fallen tree that sprang upright after severe storm

By Jacqui Street, Tuesday March 26, 2019 - 19:55 EDT



Connor Creagh was standing near the roots of the fallen tree on the Coolabunia property last year before it stood back up and crushed him. - ABC licensed



A Queensland mum has described the moment she found her son crushed by a tree that suddenly sprang back into place after it fell in a severe storm in the South Burnett last year.







Twelve-year-old Connor Creagh was playing around the fallen tree on his grandmother's Coolabunia property, near Kingaroy, the day after .



Danielle Miles said she assumed it was relatively safe because the trees were down on the ground after the wild weather.



"The kids were playing under a tree that had already fallen, so the root ball was actually in the air," she said.



"I glanced over and thought 'oh yep, they're fine'."



Ms Miles said the next thing she heard was a blood-curdling scream.



"It was a scream we'll never forget and of course we just started running as fast as we could," she said.



"We could see the other two kids, but we couldn't see Connor."







Ms Miles said the family realised the fallen tree had sprang upright when they found Connor unconscious, crushed under the roots.



"The tree was standing back up and Connor was trapped from the chest down," she said.



"There's no words to describe what it's like to see your child like that.



"It was the worst feeling I think I've ever had in my life."



The family managed to free the boy within minutes using nearby trucks and chains to lift the roots slightly.



Rescue team thought he might not survive



Connor suffered a broken femur, eight broken ribs, two collapsed lungs and a squashed heart and was flown to the Queensland Children's Hospital for treatment.



He ended up needing a full airway reconstruction, but has now made an almost full recovery.



Ms Miles said at the time she was told by paramedics her son might never recover from his severe injuries.



"They told me he was going to have significant brain injuries, and to be prepared, because it didn't look good at all," she said.







Dr Oskar Larsson, the doctor who was part of the LifeFlight rescue helicopter crew that attended the accident, said he thought Connor might not make it.



"It looked really bad," he said.







"He was unconscious, struggling with breathing."



Connor said he could not remember much about the day he was crushed, but said he was happy with his recovery so far.



"I can't wait to figure out what I can do after I get better healed and the rod [in my leg] comes out," he said.



"My lungs will need a bit more time to be better. I want to get back running, up and running."



The 12-year-old has recently had the chance to thank the paramedics and helicopter pilot who helped save his life.



"It was so special words, can't thank them enough to be honest," he said.







Ms Miles said she could not believe how well her son had recovered.



"Everyday goes by and we still can't believe he's here," she said.



"It is a miracle that he's standing here."



Trees springing back not the norm, but not impossible



Kurt Brown, a Queensland arborist for more than 30 years, said it was not unheard of for trees to fall over and then arise after storms.



"It's not as normal as trees falling over and staying down â€” that's obviously the norm â€” but in certain situations when a tree's fallen over, if you cut the log off it quite often the root ball will spring back into the hole it came from," he said.



Mr Brown said trees can also flip back after storms if they fall on top of each other, flexing the timber.



"If you can imagine there's a lot of compression and tension and, wood being wood, it has that bendy quality," he said.



"That's why they use it in boats and diving boards and things like that, because it does have that flex and that spring."



But he said it was extremely rare for anyone to be hurt by trees moving after storms.



"In this case where someone has been very badly hurt and lucky to survive, that's where we look at it and say, 'oh well, I've never heard of that before'," he said.



"It's definitely not a normality, but it definitely happens."





- ABC



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