‘I’m no hero’: Truckie lauded after climbing down embankment and rescuing driver trapped in upturned car

An eagle-eyed truckie is being praised after he climbed down a 15-metre embankment to help a trapped driver who had spent the night in his upturned car in a riverbed north of Adelaide.

Police said the man’s car had plunged down the embankment, coming to a halt in the dry bed of the Light River.

Truck driver James Rundle was making a delivery on Richardson Road at Lower Light about 3:00pm on Thursday when he spotted tyre marks going off the road. 

“I was doing my delivery of my eggs … and as I’ve come around the corner on one of my usual routes, I noticed there were skid marks off the edge of the road,” he said.

“I’ve always thought to myself that’s a pretty dangerous corner, someone might go off.

“I got out of the truck and had a look and heard this faint voice yelling out for help.”

After he spotted the car upside down at the bottom of the Light River, Mr Rundle climbed down the embankment and found the man trapped inside.

“Being a steep cliff as it is, it was 15 metres down, and trying to get down there was very difficult but I made it,” he said.

“I went and made sure he was alright. He wanted to try and get out the car … but I said he had to stay there.

“I made sure he stayed still. He had a bit of blood on his face so I made sure he was alright. He was asking for some water because he was dehydrated.”

Mr Rundle urgently called emergency services, and said he was able to put his first aid skills to good use as he waited for them to arrive.

The trapped man, a 32-year-old from Klemzig, told paramedics he had been unable to call for help because his phone was damaged in the crash.

He was taken to the Royal Adelaide Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, with police expressing relief at the man’s “lucky escape”.

They also thanked first responders and the truck driver for coming to the man’s aid.

“Lucky I saw him and lucky I followed my gut instinct there was someone in there,” Mr Rundle said.

Meanwhile, police and paramedics also responded to a fatal crash at Kersbrook in the Adelaide Hills overnight.

A car hit a tree on Kersbrook Road near Bagshaw Road, with emergency services called just after 9:00pm.

“Sadly, the driver, a 24-year-old Gawler South man, died at the scene,” police said.

Major Crash investigators have examined the crash scene, and the road has reopened after being closed for several hours overnight.

“The young man is the 72nd life lost on South Australian roads so far this year. The road toll at the same time last year was 64,” police said.