Steve Radeski was never much of an Iron Maiden fan, but he was in the front row of the band’s recent Adelaide gig. He had a vested interest in being at the show, because the band are responsible for saving his life.
Well, more specifically, a 1985 Iron Maiden tour shirt that belonged to Afghanistan veteran Bill Gaythwaite saved Mr Radeski’s life after he was involved in a horrific motorcycle accident in which he lost his leg.
“There was no one around and a returned soldier from Afghanistan turned up after he heard the accident,” Mr Radeski told The Advertiser of the accident, which occurred back in August 2014 and nearly ended his life.
“My leg had come off totally and the bones were coming out of my hand. It was a compound fracture of the femur so that took the femoral artery out.” Bleeding profusely and with time running out, passer-by Gaythwaite ran into the fray.
“I only had about six minutes to live and he came up after about four minutes and he was wearing a 1985 Iron Maiden tour shirt which he’d had since he was a kid,” Mr Radeski told News Corp.
“He was a tragic fan but looked at me and realised that he would have to use it as a tourniquet which stemmed the blood flow until the helicopter arrived. Iron Maiden saved my life.”
“His right leg had been severed just below the knee,” Mr Gaythwaite recounted to Army News. “This, coupled with a compound fracture to his wrist, meant he was losing a lot of blood.”
“I realised if I didn’t stop the flow of blood he might die, so I made a tourniquet out of my T-shirt, which I applied just below the groin of his injured leg. Fortunately, this slowed the flow of blood significantly.”
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“Memories of pre-deployment medical training were a real asset to me on this occasion. The ambulance arrived after about 15 minutes, followed by the police. It was such a huge relief to see them both.”
After hearing of Mr Radeski’s story, Iron Maiden’s management gave him front-row seats to the band’s Adelaide show and a couple of signed T-shirts to give Mr Gaythwaite – Mr Radeski wanted to replace the veteran’s 1985 tour shirt.
“I still have the (T-shirt) from that day — and it hasn’t been washed,” Mr Radeski said. His saviour, meanwhile, has received an award and commendations from both the police and the army for his heroics.
(Photo: Bianca De Marchi)
