Woman escaped injury when ride-on mower rolled

Palmerston Volunteer Fire Brigade Chief Fire Officer Gary Johnston. File photo
Palmerston Volunteer Fire Brigade Chief Fire Officer Gary Johnston. File photo
A Palmerston woman in her 50s escaped with a few bumps after her ride-on mower tipped over on a slope, pinning her against a fence.

The woman was luckily able to reach her cellphone and call emergency services, shortly before 3.15pm on Thursday.

Palmerston Volunteer Fire Brigade Chief Fire Officer Gary Johnston said the ride-on mower operator had been busy cutting her sloping section when it ‘‘got away on her and went over a little bank and rolled over’’.

It left the woman pinned between the mower and a fence on her property at the south end of Palmerston  in Ronaldsay St (State Highway 1).

‘‘Luckily, she was able to get her cellphone and use it and did the right thing and called 111.

‘‘The guys got there and believe it or not, she wasn’t hurt,’’ CFO Johnston said.

‘‘We were able to move the mower out of the way and get her out and upright again.

‘‘Apart from being a bit battered and bruised she was unharmed.’’

CFO Johnston said if the fence had not been where it was, the accident may have had a different outcome.

‘‘She was extremely lucky — that could have gone pear-shaped really quickly.

‘‘We were very pleased to see that she was fine.’’