A young Australian farmhand is recovering after sustaining a broken tibia and fibula when a kangaroo collided with his motorbike in rural New South Wales. The incident occurred in May as Patrick Blomfield, 23, was returning to a farmhouse after a day of mustering goats on a remote property near Ivanhoe.
Blomfield was traveling at approximately 60 km/h when the kangaroo unexpectedly leaped in front of his motorbike. The impact caused him to lose control and crash. "I slowed down, pulled up and said, 'Oh mate, I think I've snapped my leg here'," Blomfield recalled.
After alerting a workmate, Blomfield lay down in a paddock while his employers contacted emergency services. Due to the remote location, paramedics took 90 minutes to reach him. During this time, Blomfield used a pain-relieving whistle from a medical chest provided by the Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS), which is kept on the property.
Paramedics initially transported him to the small Ivanhoe hospital before he was flown by the aeromedical service to an Adelaide hospital. It was Blomfield's first time flying. Retrieval registrar Ross Gillespie, who attended the call-out, described the incident as memorable, noting the unusual nature of an altercation with a kangaroo. Gillespie confirmed that Blomfield had broken both the tibia and fibula, indicating the significant force of the collision.
The retrieval team treated Blomfield on the Ivanhoe airstrip late at night, a process complicated by the darkness. "It was pitch black," Gillespie said, adding that the conditions presented an "extra challenge."
Blomfield has since had a metal rod inserted into his leg and is recuperating at home. The kangaroo involved in the incident did not survive. In the 2023-24 period, the RFDS transported nearly 33,000 remote patients and maintains over 2,000 medical kits on remote properties across Australia, playing a crucial role in providing healthcare to isolated communities.