Kerry Small was waiting in traffic in Singleton's main street in NSW's Hunter region when a stolen 42-tonne prime mover slammed into his car before hitting other vehicles and crashing into the Royal Hotel in a fireball.
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The spectacular 2017 crash left four people in hospital and a trail of destruction one witness likened to a "war zone".
Six years later, Mr Small, a former Muswellbrook rugby coach, is still feeling the effects of that terrible day.
The 72-year-old lives with pain, headaches and a battered body after suffering two broken legs, eight broken ribs, a broken neck, broken shoulder bones, punctured lungs and bleeding on the brain.
"But other than that I was good," he joked when ACM's Newcastle Herald visited him at Bayway Village at Fern Bay in NSW's Hunter region.
Mr Small can barely walk, instead relying on a mobility scooter to make the 15-kilometre round trip to the General Washington Hotel at Stockton for a couple of beers most days.
The mentally ill driver of the truck, then 29-year-old Rodney Johnson, is serving a six-and-a-half-year minimum prison sentence after stealing the prime mover in Murrurundi and leading police on a 113km high-speed chase in which he weaved onto the wrong side of the road.
Police laid road spikes on the New England Highway leading into Singleton before Johnson careered into cars and buildings then jumped from the smoking wreckage virtually unharmed.
Mr Small cannot remember any details of the crash.
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He was doing maintenance work at a pub in Muswellbrook that day and was driving to Maitland to buy a gas burner.
"I don't know what happened. I didn't make it. I only got to Singleton."
Mr Small received a modest insurance payout in early 2021 and bought a new car six months later, though he rarely drives.
"I bought a little MG, but I haven't driven it for 12 months. One of these days I'll get it out."
He allowed the Herald to read a diary he kept for a while to detail his struggles and thoughts during and after his six months in hospital.
"I don't get much sleep. I was sitting up to three o'clock in the morning writing that diary out," he said.
"That's where I am most of the time, sitting up."
One entry in the diary from February 2020 reads: "To lay in bed at night is the worst thing. As soon as my head hits the pillow the pain begins ... I hate going to bed. I know what I'm in for."
Another entry says: "This is not what I expected to be after my retirement, walking around like a half-opened pocket knife in constant pain, but life goes on.
"Can't look up or down or sideways without turning my complete body and twisting my legs.
"Nobody can know the pain I am going through but me."
Mr Small praised iCare, the state-run workers' and motorists' compensation corporation, for helping him.
"iCare have been brilliant. You couldn't fault them in any way."
He said he had overcome his bitterness about the events of October 11, 2017.
"I was, but I'm over it. What can you do? This is me. That dickhead's in jail. What do you do? You move along.
"Staying around moping like a two-bob watch is a waste of time."
Michael Parris
Michael Parris reports on politics for the Newcastle Herald. He started at the Herald in 1994 after working in the ABC Newcastle newsroom. Michael spent much of his career as a sub-editor before moving into political reporting in 2017. He was a finalist in the Sports Australia national media awards for his stories about a male-only tennis club in Newcastle. He has covered NSW and federal elections, state and federal budgets and local politics. He has also written extensively about the COVID-19 pandemic with a special focus on data analysis and the effects of lockdowns on the Hunter community.
Michael Parris reports on politics for the Newcastle Herald. He started at the Herald in 1994 after working in the ABC Newcastle newsroom. Michael spent much of his career as a sub-editor before moving into political reporting in 2017. He was a finalist in the Sports Australia national media awards for his stories about a male-only tennis club in Newcastle. He has covered NSW and federal elections, state and federal budgets and local politics. He has also written extensively about the COVID-19 pandemic with a special focus on data analysis and the effects of lockdowns on the Hunter community.
