Christchurch penknife amputee: I wanted to die

Surrounded by his family, an earthquake survivor told today how he wanted to die before doctors using a penknife and a hacksaw amputated his legs as he lay trapped.

Brian Coker, a 52-year-old financial adviser, said: "I just wanted there to be a decent aftershock to finish it."

Surgeons, who were in Christchurch for a conference, performed the operation so he could be pulled out of the wreckage of the Pyne Gould building.

Mr Coker said he did not remember the amputation but he could recall drifting in and out of consciousness for six hours.

"I didn't know they were going to amputate my legs but I should have known. They cut my trousers while I was still conscious."