A DRIVER crushed by his 20-ton lorry today spoke about his fight back from the brink of death after undergoing revolutionary surgery.

Geoffrey Meace - dubbed 'Miracle Man' by doctors - beat the odds to survive when surgeons performed a technique never before used in an operation.

The 35-year-old ruptured the main artery from the heart when his runaway articulated lorry pinned him to a loading bay wall at Southampton docks for 15 minutes. His life-saving operation is being recorded in a medical journal because it was so unusual.

Divorced Geoffrey, of Oswaldtwistle, said: "I had gone round the back of the lorry to open the doors to load up bananas for taking to Scotland.

"It started rolling towards me slowly and I was so frightened I just froze. I had time to run to the side or drop to the floor to let the lorry go over me, but I just stood still.

"I remember holding my hands up in an attempt to stop it - it was just a natural reaction. It pinned me against the wall and I don't really remember anything after that."

Two dock workers heard his screams for helpand managed to drive away the vehicle - which weighs 38 tons when fully loaded - then Geoffrey blacked out with pain. He was rushed to Southampton General Hospital with a ruptured aortic artery, crushed lung, lacerated liver, bruised pancreas and bowel, and a broken rib.

Surgeons at the hospital's specialist cardiac unit - one of the leading centres in the country - performed a life-saving eight-hour operation.

Geoffrey, who works for Cheltenham-based hauliers Ralph Davies International Transport Ltd, said: "This operation has not been done before and 90 per cent of similar operations are fatal.

"The surgeons usually go in through the front of the body to repair the aorta, but this time they went in through my shoulder using a different technique.

"It is now being recorded in a medical journal because it was so unusual."

Within 24 hours of the surgery he then underwent a three-hour operation on his liver.

Relatives from East Lancashire rushed to his bedside in the intensive care unit where he was on a life support machine for 10 days. It was not until eight days after the accident that he showed signs of recovery. Tests were carried out to make sure he had not suffered brain damage or been paralysed.

He has been left with an 18-inch scar across his left shoulder from the surgery and has to use oxygen because problems with his lung make him breathless.

But doctors are hopeful he will make a full recovery. Geoffrey will be off work for five months and is going for regular check-ups and physiotherapy.

He added: "I consider myself the luckiest man in the world. If I had not been treated by the doctors at the specialist unit or if the two blokes had not discovered me in time, I would not be here.

"I'm just glad to be alive. It certainly changes the way you look at things.

"The doctors can't believe I have made it and some have been calling me the Miracle Man."

A hospital spokesman said: "It was a very unusual procedure. He suffered very serious injuries and was treated by various surgeons. Doctors say he is lucky to be alive."

The accident is being investigated.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.