When sheep and beef farmer Bevan Wilson found himself pinned under the cab of his Can-Am side-by-side, the fact he might not have been able to compete in the Coast to Coast Longest Day endurance race was the last thing on his mind.
Seven months on, the 40-year-old recently crossed the finish line of the event with a tale of resilience and sheer determination getting him there.
Farming sheep and beef properties in the Strath Taieri Valley alongside staff, his wife Anna and their three young children, Mr Wilson conceded he was "all go", and thrived off that pace when it came to everything he did.
It was the end of July last year when he was out mustering ewes and his stock manager Charlie Smith was nearby on another ridge of the block.
"We had a bit of snow on the ground and I was going along the side of a hill. I was just going too fast for the conditions. The back wheels started to slide me sideways and then I hit a tussock which flipped the Can-Am. It just happened so quickly. It threw me out the passenger’s side and ended up on top of me."
Facial injuries included a set of "rearranged" teeth and a badly cut mouth.
"The cab was on my neck which I managed to somehow shimmy down to my chest, which was probably not a great idea as it made it harder to breathe.’’
After about 15 minutes he found his phone up by his shoulder with his free arm. "But it was wet, I could hardly see with blood in my eyes, and I didn’t have any coverage."
He eventually got one bar of service, and decided to use that time to call his wife. "Ibelieved I could die, but was not going to, although my breathing was getting harder and harder."
Mrs Wilson worked on getting the rescue helicopter to him.
He was found by Mr Smith, after he heard his cries for help. He was able to lift the Can-Am enough for Mr Wilson to get out from underneath.
"I feel pretty sure that if Charlie hadn’t turned up when he did, I quite probably wouldn’t be here today. He saved my life."
Mr Wilson was lucky to have only broken ribs, 50 stitches to his mouth and "a fair few visits to the dentist".
Sporting a set of braces and a bruised ego due to his driving skills, Mr Wilson decided he might as well continue with his Coast to Coast plans but finding time to train became a challenge that would weigh on his mind.
He completed a marathon in September before getting appendicitis in October, "which just became another reason not to train", he said, laughing.
Three days after his operation he was throwing tyres on to a silage pit and decided if he couldn’t make the time to specifically train for the Longest Day, he would just need to leverage off the physical nature of his day job.
"I think as farmers we are quite used to putting in some long, physical days and we don’t realise just how much resilience and grit we have until we go and do something like a Coast to Coast with very little training and find that actually, it can be done!"
Finishing the race an admirable 98th out of 222 with a time of 14hrs 43mins, Mr Wilson said he was "one and done" with no desire to go back next year.
"The lack of training did get to me.
‘‘I would kick myself for not doing more and then the last couple weeks before the race knowing that I hadn’t really prepared properly, I just had to be content that I had enough in the tank to get me to the finish line."
With that event now ticked off, he has since entered the Motatapu Marathon on March 1. "You could say I have trained for it, so I might as well do it!"
Mr Wilson made a few changes to assist with his Coast to Coast preparation. Alcohol is one habit he now limits.
"I wasn’t much of a drinker, but when I did, I would binge-drink.
‘‘Being social and limiting alcohol can be quite hard thing to do when you live in a small rural community like this, but people are becoming more accepting.
He also has a lot of gratitude for his family and his farming team around him that enabled him to take time off farm.
"I didn’t want to think too much about the accident so the Coast to Coast became an ideal distraction," he said.
