***WARNING: STORY CONTAINS GRAPHIC IMAGES***
An afternoon of off-roading in the backcountry near Waiparous on Friday left Ivan Simic with a large tree branch embedded in his leg.
Simic says he was the passenger in a side-by-side when the vehicle became stuck in sloppy terrain in an area near Highway 40 and TransAlta Road . After some time, the two friends managed to free the ATV but the sun had set. The men attempted to ride out of the backcountry in the dark when they encountered an unexpected obstacle.
“As we were driving there was a tree on the road that we didn’t see,” Simic told CTV Calgary on Sunday. “It somehow went between the tire and wheel well (and) right through my leg.”
According to Simic, a second branch struck the driver breaking three of the man’s ribs.
The two injured men continued their travels until they found a spot with cellular reception so they could call 911. “He called when he could but had to keep driving.”
“Luckily, I wasn’t bleeding from the wound,” said Simic. “It missed all the vital stuff and just got the meat”
The two men made their way out of the woods shortly before 8:00 p.m. to a location where an ambulance crew from Cochrane was awaiting their arrival. Once paramedics saw the size of the stick that had pierced Simic’s upper leg, a STARS helicopter was dispatched to airlift the injured man to the Foothills Medical Centre in Calgary. At the time, his condition was considered serious.
As of Sunday afternoon, Simic continues to recover in hospital. He says he will not be allowed to keep the stick he temprorarily hosted as it's been deemed biohazardous because it contains material from his leg.
