- Jason Hutchings, 38, was working underneath S-type car when it fell
- He fractured his vertebrae and broke several ribs in the accident
- The one-tonne car was lifted off father-of-two by rugby team training nearby
- He was airlifted to hospital and hopes to be discharged this weekendÂ
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An RAC mechanic who was crushed by the Jaguar as he was worked underneath it was saved by a team of rugby players who were able to lift the one-tonne car off him.
Jason Hutchings had raised the S-type car on a jack, only for it to slip and pin him to the ground in the car park of Canterbury Rugby Club, Kent, leaving him unconscious with several broken bones.
The father-of-two was only saved thanks to the members of the club who hauled the heavy car off him after the accident.
Saved:Â RAC mechanic Jason Hutchings was crushed underneath a Jaguar he was working on, but was saved by rugby players who lifted the one-tonne car off the father-of-two, pictured with daughter Caitlin, four
Mr Hutchings, 38, fractured his vertebrae, broke several ribs and suffered multiple fractures of his collarbone when the car fell on top of him.
He was airlifted to the William Harvey Hospital in Ashford, where he remains on oxygen a week later.
‘Without the help of the guys at the rugby club I would be dead,’ said Mr Hutchings.
‘It was a big car – it must have weighed a tonne and I just thought they would never, ever be able to lift it off me, it was impossible.
‘But they did and I am eternally grateful to them.’
He added: ‘It was just like any other job. I jacked the car up, went underneath and I think the jack must have slipped and made the car fall.
‘All I remember is thinking there is no way I’m going to get out of this. I thought ‘that’s it, it’s over’.
Scene: Mr Hutchings was fixing the Jaguar in the car park of Canterbury Rugby Club when it fell on him
‘I don’t believe it was a fault with the equipment. It was just one of those things. I’ll go back to work but I’ll just be a bit more conscious about what I am doing.’
Mr Hutchings hopes to be discharged from hospital this weekend and back home in Faversham, with wife Karen, 40, and their daughters Caitlin, four, and Morgan, six.
And after working for the RAC for nearly nine years, he says the experience will not put him off returning to work.
‘I just want to thank everyone for their help. I wouldn’t be here without them all,’ he said.
Rugby club chairman Giles Hilton said: ‘It’s pretty fortunate that we were there.
‘We’ll have to remind any future RAC workmen to only come on Tuesdays and Wednesdays when the players are training.
‘But jokes aside, we are very pleased with the actions the guys took, and presumably it was those actions that saved this man’s life.
Car: Mr Hutchings was pinned to the ground by the Jaguar S-type car, similar to the one pictured
‘I am incredibly proud of the club and the swift move that members took to make sure this man survived.’
RAC spokesman Pete Williams also thanked the players on behalf of the roadside recovery service.
‘We are very grateful to members of the club and the public who helped and actually lifted the vehicle off the patrolman,’ he said.
‘Our thoughts are with him and his family and we are providing every support. A full investigation into the incident is under way.’
The Health and Safety Executive said it will also be investigating the incident.
RAC mechanic crushed by Jaguar is saved by rugby players who lifted it off him
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