Brodee Hinchley: Perth man forced to learn to walk again after cherry picker topples while pruning trees

A Perth man will have to learn to walk again after a cherry picker he was on toppled over in a shocking workplace accident.

Brodee Hinchley was trimming trees in Yokine last month when the machinery fell over and he plunged 7m to the ground.

The 22-year-old has spoken of the frightening moment he could have died while thanking his colleagues and the doctors who saved his life.

“I remember holding on and just thinking brace, brace, brace,” Mr Hinchley told 7News.

After the fall, Mr Hinchley’s workmate ran straight to his aid. Mr Hinchley was then rushed to Royal Perth Hospital, where he spent two weeks — one of them in the State Trauma Unit.

“It was like a movie. . . you look up and there’s all these doctors around you (but) they’re just focused on keeping you alive,” Mr Hinchley said.

“They started to tell me that my pelvis is broken, my arm was broken and I had a couple broken ribs.”

He also had a broken ankle, a collapsed lung — and a fractured spine.

“They had to operate so what they did was put some screws in (butt) they put a cage where my pubic bone is,” he said.

Mr Hinchley added of his colleagues: “They thought they were going to watch me take my last breath.”

“Considering the injuries, I’m not paralysed, not dead. (But) as a supervisor I’m just glad it was me and not them.”

RPH orthopaedic surgeon Sam Young said Mr Hinchley was “extremely lucky”.

“It could have very easily gone the other way (but) he could’ve very easily suffered life threatening injuries,” Dr Young said.