A man almost died on the road after crashing his motorcycle into a guardrail and rupturing his lung at Jamberoo on Saturday afternoon.
The Mercury understands the 30-year-old rider was travelling at speed around a bend on Jamberoo Road at 2.40pm when his Husqvarna slammed into the Armco railing and skidded 15 metres.
NSW Police said a 50-year-old woman who was following behind on a green Kawasaki braked to avoid the crash and also slid into the railing.
"She did not make contact with the first motorcycle and was not injured," a police spokesperson said.
Passers-by were the first to stop and render assistance, with paramedics from nearby Albion Park ambulance station arriving within six minutes of their triple-zero call.
Illawarra Ambulance district inspector Terry Morrow said a team of intensive care and general duty paramedics had "worked strenuously" to save the man's life.
"He had ruptured his lung and was coughing up pink frothy blood and needed us to give him specific treatment to keep him alive," Mr Morrow said.
For half-an-hour, paramedics performed "significant resuscitation" on the patient, inserting a needle into his chest to relieve the pressure and providing artificial ventilation.
He was taken by road to the Albion Park chopper base, where a doctor assisted in performing a surgical procedure on his chest in order to keep him alive.
The patient was then flown to St George Hospital in a serious condition and rushed to surgery.
"He's a very lucky man," Mr Morrow said.
"If it wasn't for my crew of intensive care and general duty paramedics treating him appropriately, he probably would have died.
"I'm really proud of them for looking after him the right way; I supervised and they did everything exactly by the book."
The road was blocked off for around 90 minutes as crash scene detectives remained on scene.
Lake Illawarra officers together with the crash investigation unit have commenced an investigation into the circumstances of the crash.
They are appealing for anyone with information to come forward.
Jamberoo Rural Fire Service, who also rendered assistance, urged road users to drive responsibly in the wake of the horror crash.
"Please take this as a reminder that the roads can be dangerous and we all need to drive to the conditions and our own abilities," the post read.
"Even then, accidents can happen.
"We wish the patient in this case a speedy recovery and thank our colleagues at NSW Ambulance and Lake Illawarra Police District for their response and professionalism.
"These events can be traumatic for all those involved, so let's drive safely out there so we don't need to respond to them in the future."
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