Near tragedy after boozy night

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    iol nws dec 11 nt boot1 (21539661)

    INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPERS

    The policeman used the Jaws of Life to break into the boot. Picture: Supplied

    A night out drinking almost ended in tragedy last Sunday for a 23-year-old New Germany man – given a special seat in the boot of his friend’s father’s Mercedes after they ran out of space up front.

    The man, who did not want to be named out of embarrassment, said he immediately fell asleep on the way home. His equally inebriated friends parked the car on the road and staggered off to bed, completely forgetting about the “luggage” in the boot.

    The following morning, the young man awoke in complete darkness and found himself with a pounding headache and trapped with no way out.

    As the sun rose and the car heated up, he panicked, fearing he would run out of oxygen, and starting banging on the boot’s roof and calling for help. Luckily a woman walking in John Geekie Road in Glenmore, heard his pleas and summoned help.

    The hapless, hung-over victim was eventually freed using the Jaws of Life, and the first thing he asked for was an ice-cold beer.

    Speaking to the Sunday Tribune yesterday, the man said it seemed like a good idea at the time to avoid making two trips home simply because there was no room in the car for him.

    In a process of elimination, it was decided he would ride in the boot, as he was the tallest. “When someone suggested I travel in the boot I initially objected, but understood their logic, so I hopped in.

    “When I woke up the next morning I was shocked to find myself in a dark place. My phone was dead, so I couldn’t call anyone for help.”

    He counts himself lucky – all too aware the outcome could have been grim, as he was running out of air and the boot was becoming very hot.

    Andre van Rooyen, vice chairman of the Glenmore Community Watch, said everyone rallied together to free him after first breaking the driver’s window to try and open the boot from inside.

    “This didn’t work because the car had been centrally locked and we didn’t know whose car it was. A resident who works for SAPS Search and Rescue saw the commotion on the way to the shop and came to assist.

    “We were going to try to open the boot with a crowbar, when he said he had the Jaws of Life. When the boot was opened, the youngster emerged, drenched in sweat, looking very under the weather. He sat on the bumper and the first thing he asked for was an ice-cold beer.”

    The youngster said all the friends would pay for the extensive damage to the car – it had been a collective decision to put him in the boot.

    “I don’t want people to think I’m an alcoholic… my friends and I are a chilled bunch that had a really bad drunken idea. I fell asleep because I have the ability to fall asleep anywhere.”

    He said he had learnt his lesson and wasn’t planning to travel in another car boot any time soon. – Sunday Tribune

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    Near tragedy after boozy night