Father saves lives

Trailer with girl (6) rolls down an embankment

(Bild: C11)

Dramatic scenes on Mother's Day in Neuhaus in the district of Völkermarkt: strapped into a bicycle trailer, a six-year-old girl rolled down a steep farmyard slope and down an embankment. The father was only just able to prevent another fall with a jump - but was seriously injured in the process. The girl was also taken to hospital.

Fun turned fatal: around midday, a six-year-old was playing with her brother (4) in the yard of their parents' house in Neuhaus - with the boy pushing his sister through the yard in a bicycle trailer. Until the four-year-old let go of the trailer and it finally rolled down the steep driveway with the girl strapped in.

In front of the father, who immediately ran after her. But before the 36-year-old could reach and grab the trailer, it rolled down a three-meter embankment onto a gravel road below. And there was the threat of another steep slope. But the girl's father jumped over the almost six-metre-high slope into the depths without a second thought.

36-year-old prevents worse
Although he managed to grab the bicycle trailer, he fell over the six-metre-high slope onto the gravel road below, along with the vehicle and his strapped-in daughter. However, the 36-year-old was able to prevent worse: The trailer would have rolled over another embankment (10-meter high) directly into a stream flowing below.

The father was flown by helicopter to Klagenfurt University Hospital with serious injuries - and his daughter was also taken to hospital. Nevertheless, the emergency services are calling it a "Mother's Day miracle"!