Frantically pumping the brakes of his truck to no avail as he gathered speed down the precarious bends on Cambewarra Mountain in NSW's South Coast, Warilla father-of-five Steven Fitzgerald knew he was going over the edge - and expected to die.
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He managed to steer the truck, carrying a 3.5-tonne excavator, around two bends on the Nowra side of Moss Vale Road but crashed through a safety barrier on the final hairpin last Friday, plunging 50 metres down the side of the mountain.
The truck rolled several times, landing on its roof. Mr Fitzgerald can't remember falling, but he does recall his desperate attempts to free himself as he hung upside down in the mangled wreckage.
"I just remember going down the mountain and the brakes were working fine, then all of a sudden I was pumping them and nothing was happening," he said.
"I kept pumping and gripping the steering wheel tight and thought 'I'm going over, I'm dead'. Then I went over the edge - I can't remember falling, I was clinching my eyes shut, and when I opened them I was upside down.
"The seatbelt was really tight, it took me five minutes to get it off - which felt like the longest five minutes of my life. My foot was stuck so I twisted it and crawled my way out of the door, which had been ripped off.
"There was a log nearby and I leant over that, and after that I just couldn't move any more."
He laid on that log, as darkness fell, for around 15 minutes before help arrived. Emergency services were alerted to the accident around 5.30pm, sparking a massive rescue operation that would involve multiple agencies and take 2.5 hours.
Mr Fitzgerald gave thanks to all his rescuers, especially the police officer who first reached him after scaling down the side of the mountain.
"He had a first aid kit and the first thing he did was bandage my head - blood was dripping down my face," he said. "Then he stayed with me and comforted me until paramedics got there.
"I guess I was in shock and the pain wasn't registering. I just shut my eyes the whole time to stop any blood dripping in them, and concentrated on trying to get my breath - it was a struggle to breathe."
The 43-year-old had suffered multiple serious injuries on his right side, including a right collapsed lung, five broken ribs, a fractured foot and spine and a fractured right right eye socket.
He was airlifted to St George Hospital, where he remained until Wednesday, and he's now recovering at home. His wife of 25 years Nicole still can't believe he survived.
When he was late home, she had called his workplace with her concerns. Not long after they called her back, with news of an accident involving one of their trucks, and soon after confirmed her husband was the driver.
"We didn't know if he was alive - I had my six-year-old son listening in, saying 'Is my daddy alive'," she said.
"Then they called back to let us know he was conscious and talking to paramedics."
With visitor restrictions in place at the Sydney hospital due to the COVID-19 threat, Mrs Fitzgerald has been the only one by her husband's bedside this past week. The couple's five children - ranging in age from six to 25 - are thrilled to have him back home.
"He's still in pain and will take some time to recover, but he's very lucky to be alive," she said. "We went to the crash site when he got out of hospital, and when we saw the truck we knew it was a miracle he survived."
Mr Fitzgerald said he was "gobsmacked" when he saw the wreckage - and how far the truck had plunged into such rough terrain, coming to rest in a precarious position wedged against a tree.
"I can't believe I survived that - and was able to pull myself free," he said. "And I'm so thankful for all those involved in the rescue, who worked so hard to get me out alive.
"I remember in the helicopter asking the paramedics 'Am I dead', and they answered 'No, you're alive mate, keep going, keep fighting'. And I did, but I still can't believe it - it's a miracle I'm here."
