Watch: Incredible tale that united Christchurch quake survivor and American knife inventor

November 12, 2018

Brian Coker and Tim Leatherman live half a world away, but they've established a unique friendship.

It’s a friendship unlike any other, born of tragedy.

Brian Coker, a financial advisor from West Melton, and Tim Leatherman, founder of an enormous US manufacturer.

But on February 22, 2011, their lives were forever intertwined.

“I was heading for lunch when the earthquake happened,” Mr Coker recalled to TVNZ 1’s Seven Sharp. “I was on the landing about to go down the stairwell and everything came down and I ended up pinned in the building.

“There was no way I could move the concrete beam that was across my legs. I thought this is going to be it.”

Two doctors, a policeman and a fireman worked to free Brian – the only way possible by amputating his legs.

“The blade on that Leatherman [knife], which the anaesthetist tells me was very sharp, acted as the scalpel,” Mr Coker said. ”And without that, I don't quite know what they would have done.”

Mr Leatherman said he heard about the rescue using his invention fairly quickly after the earthquake because the media picked it up.

Two years later, Mr Coker was taking part in the New York Marathon and decided to look up Mr Leatherman. Fast forward five years and they’re now old mates, taking a tour of Christchurch and the spot where everything changed.

“I think you could easily be a Kiwi. because the ingenuity that you had when you saw a problem,” Mr Coker said. “I like that so much about you.”

Mr Leatherman was honoured.

“I'm glad that you said that,” he responded. “I could easily be a Kiwi because I've heard about this number eight wire mentality.”

SHARE ME

More Stories