A 75-year-old man was seriously injured when he was hit by his son-in-law's mower at a transport engineering garage yesterday.
However, he remained ''in good humour'' while being attended to by emergency services.
The man was talking to his son-in-law when the mower rolled backwards off a tractor and struck him in the lower back at T. L MacLean Ltd in Green Island, the son-in-law said.
''I put a safety block between the wheels [of the mower] so it couldn't roll backwards or forwards,'' he said.
''It rolled right over the top of the block. Once it started rolling, you couldn't stop it.''
The son-in-law, who asked not to be named, was working on his tractor at the time of the incident.
His father-in-law remain-ed in good spirits despite his injuries, he said.
''He was still in good humour, still handing out plenty of sarcasm.''
St John South Island region communications adviser Ian Henderson said an ambulance and rapid-response vehicle went to the scene, after being alerted at 3.28pm.
The man was attended to by St John and Fire Service staff and taken by ambulance to Dunedin Hospital's emergency department.
