Barry broke his neck in Outback Qld. What happened next was a miracle

Propped up against an overturned ute with a broken neck, Barry had just been in a serious vehicle accident outside the mining outpost of Gunpowder, about 120 kilometres outside Mount Isa.

The diesel engineer was traveling back to catch a flight with two work colleagues in 1997 when their Toyota Hilux flipped about 10 kilometres from the Gunpowder mining camp.

Speaking to the Flying Doctor Podcast Barry recalls a slice of good fortune after his friend went to get help.

"He trotted off and he'd only gone a couple of k's, perhaps not (even) that of the journey and a ute, a family car came out of the bush to go back to the mine," he said.

"They stopped and he told him what happened and they said they'd only come back - because they had gone down for a picnic down at the river - and they'd forgotten the peanut butter jam...so they were able to take him to the mine."

Two hours later with flys buzzing in his mouth and ears, Barry saw the flying doctors plane touch down on the airstrip.

Feeling like a character out of the 80's TV series, Barry said the doctor and nurse used a mattress on the back of a ute to get him from his sitting position to the plane.

"It's difficult to describe what you feel when you are in a situation like that," he said. "I knew I couldn't go very far so I knew there was something drastic (wrong).

"The doctor came with me into casualty (at Mount Isa Hospital) and he's telling people the nurses and triage whatever it was 'he's got this, do this, do that' and he was spot on. I got what they called a jefferson fracture."

The C1 vertebra, which supports your head, was in two pieces. Barry said it was a millimetre away from a hangman's fracture.

After treatment in Townsville Hospital he was discharged after five days. While he was still in excruciating pain, Barry and his wife Davina made the trip to Sydney.

The pain in Barry's neck meant he struggled dealing with the smallest vibration in everyday life.

Amazingly, an operation and months of rehabilitation returned some mobility.

Today, he plays golf while in retirement, living in Merimbula.

"You were told by the nurse never to buy any lottery tickets because you'd had all the luck you're ever likely to get," Davina said.

Davina volunteers at the visitor information centre, Pambula Hospital and the Panboola Wetlands parkrun - she just clocked up her 250^th volunteering appearance.

To listen to the podcast, visit here.