Exclusive: The first thing Jason Sawyer remembers thinking after he was T-boned by a 4WD was that he should ring his mum Kylie.
He had been riding his motorcycle along Milperra Road in Revesby in Sydney’s south-west on a cold, wet night on May 26 when a car allegedly ran a red light.
Jason Sawyer was riding his motorcycle in Sydney on May 26 when he was struck by a car. Supplied
Sawyer was flung 15 metres from his bike after the full weight of the ute crushed his femur.
The heavy rain pounded the bitumen as he lay in the middle of the road, his shattered leg sticking out at an odd angle.
“I just thought, ‘I better call my mum because I might die here’,” Sawyer told nine.com.au
“I know that I had to tell her what had happened, and that I love her.”
The 23-year-old was alone for several agonisingly long minutes before bystanders came to help.
A crowd had gathered and someone called Triple-Zero. Sawyer was fading in and out of consciousness.
“I just remember my leg hurting so much that I didn’t feel how much it hurt, if that makes sense,” Sawyer said.
“It was just blindingly painful.”
Daryl Payne was driving back from work and noticed the panicked faces standing over something in the middle of traffic.
The student paramedic swung around and headed to the scene.
Student paramedic Daryl Payne seen helping Sawyer as paramedics arrived. Supplied
His emergency service instincts kicked in.
Payne stood over Sawyer, murmuring words of comfort and cutting off his boots and thick motorcycle gear as they waited for the ambulance to arrive.
He wrapped a space blanket around Sawyer, which was luckily in his car thanks to his work as a Newborn and Paediatric Emergency Transport Service (NETS) driver.
“He’s there speaking to me, and he’s checking my leg, and he’s making sure that I’m fine, and that I’m breathing… all these things,” Sawyer recalled.
“I didn’t really realise how bad my leg was because I just refused to look down.”
Sawyer had badly fractured his leg in four different places and in four different ways.
According to Payne, it was a miracle his injuries were concentrated in one place.
“To break a femur… you’ve done a decent amount of injury,” he said.
“And not to have any injury anywhere else is very, very surprising.”
Jason Sawyer (right) with his mum and twin brother, Stephen. Supplied
Sawyer’s mum Kylie raced to the scene to find her son after he called her with the news.
Mercifully, paramedics had already arrived to help.
“They worked on him for about two hours while he laid in the middle of the road,” Kylie recalled.
“It was horrible… just hearing his screaming.
“I’d never heard anything like it before in my life.”
Sawyer was taken to hospital, where he underwent two surgeries and had four blood transfusions to save his life.
He had compartment syndrome, his leg so swollen from the severe trauma that he almost lost it.
“I’d wake up 10 times a night just vomiting blood,” Sawyer recalled.
Like his leg, Sawyer’s memory of the crash is fractured.
But he does remember Payne’s kindness and reassurance.
“It was just this immense feeling of safety and comfort. I can’t really put it into words… like I felt like I was gonna die,” he said.
“I saw him, it was just like, wow, I’m safe now, I’m going to be fine.”
Jason Sawyer reunited with student paramedic Daryl Payne in hospital. Supplied
Kylie was similarly blown away by Payne’s actions the evening she almost lost her son.
She was determined to thank him and traced his contact details through NETS.
After getting his phone number, she invited Payne to visit Sawyer in hospital.
Payne, who graduates from his paramedicine course in February, was touched that the family wanted to thank him in person.
“One of the things with being with working in an ambulance… you never ever get that follow-up,” Payne said.
“It was just so surreal to actually have someone reach out.”
Payne arrived at Sawyer’s bedside with a pair of thongs to jokingly “apologise for cutting off his boots”.
“I can’t believe someone could be so selfless, to take time after work, to go visit some random guy who you saw crash,” Sawyer added.
“He is just an incredible human being.”
Sawyer is still in hospital as he endures a “painful and traumatic” recovery.
The 23-year-old faces a long recovery after the crushing injury to his leg. Supplied
He hopes he can soon walk without assistance and eventually ride his beloved motorcycle again.
His dream after leaving hospital is to pursue a career in cybersecurity, his main passion outside exploring Sydney on his bike.
“Once I was given my laptop, it was like, wow, I can actually accomplish things,” Sawyer added.
“I’ve been feeling trapped and hopeless.
“But I almost died so many times. I’ve been given his perspective back, there’s no point holding back and waiting for life.”
Police are investigating the circumstances of the crash and a spokesperson for NSW Police told nine.com.au that inquiries are ongoing.
No charges have been laid.