Photo: RNZ / Jimmy Ellingham
Still nursing horrific injuries suffered when he fell 12 metres at work, a routine follow-up call from a surgeon may have saved a Palmerston North man's mobility.
Myles Dieming's recovery from the late-October fall was hampered by severe blood clots that weren't responding to treatment, and he could barely walk.
But almost straight after a ground breaking operation to remove the clots, he was back on his feet.
The 60-year-old's ordeal began when he was at work the day of the rugby world cup final.
"I'm a telecommunications technician. I was working on a 12 metre monopole. We were installing a new pole," he told RNZ.
"I really have no memory of what happened. Basically, I have a blank from there completely until I woke up in ICU.
"Something went wrong.
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