MORE: Phil Hughes seriously injured by SCG bouncer
On debut in Wellington in 1975, Chatfield, a pace bowler, batted at number 11 as the Kiwis were on a hiding to nothing, needing over 100 runs to make England bat again.
English paceman Peter Lever bowled a short-pitched delivery, attempting to get Chatfield out at short-leg, but the New Zealand tailender lost sight of the ball and it thundered into his left temple.
Chatfield staggered before dropping to the ground, much like Hughes did at the SCG, before he started to twitch and moan.
The English team’s physio, Bernard Thomas, was first medic on the scene, but by the time he ran out to the pitch, Chatfield had swallowed his tongue and his heartbeat had stopped.
“When the ambulance-men were working on Ewen, it was the closest I had come to praying for a long time," Lever told reporters afterwards.
"I honestly thought I had killed him as I saw him lying there in convulsions. I felt sick and ashamed at what I had done and all I could think when I got back to the pavilion was that I wanted to retire.”
Chatfield was stabilised, resuscitated and rushed to hospital. He regained consciousness within half an hour, sustaining a hairline fracture of the skull.
Chatfield, who wasn’t wearing a helmet while batting, later said the accident was his own fault.
“My reflexes are not that quick. It's not really his [Lever's] fault. I should have been able to get out of the way.”
Chatfield made a full recovery but had to wait two years to play his second Test match. He would go on to make 43 appearances for New Zealand.
Hughes’ injury comes just three weeks after Pakistani batsman Ahmed Shehzad suffered a fractured skull when a Corey Anderson bouncer struck him on the helmet in Abu Dhabi.
Shezahd will miss the up-coming one-day series against the Black Caps while in recovery.