Herefordshire | Archive | 2006 | January | 16
From the archive, first published Monday 16th Jan 2006.
A TRAINEE paramedic `talked through' lengthy rescue operations with two terrified women after their car became trapped under a lorry in a horrific accident.
Melanie Bird, a Leominster firefighter and paramedic, played a key role in one of the biggest and most complex accident rescue operations ever mounted on the A49.
The county fire and rescue service said the two injured woman had a "miraculous" escape in a "concertina" collision involving three heavy goods vehicles and the car.
The women's blue Ford Maverick 4x4 was "crushed to the size of a mini" after it was shunted under the back of a lorry as far as the rear axle, said spokesman Alec Mackie.
The two middle-aged women were pulled from the wreck alive - and talking - after the Ashton rescue. One was trapped for two hours.
"The car was squashed to unbelievable proportions," said a member of the rescue team.
"We arrived to see an arm sticking out and thought we were dealing with a fatal accident.
"It was a miracle that these women survived, there is no other word."
The accident happened shortly before 3pm on Tuesday between the Hundred Lane junction of the A49 and the Berrington Hall entrance at temporary traffic lights erected for road resurfacing work.
Police and firefighters from Leominster, Tenbury and Droitwich were joined by paramedics, air and road ambulance crews and doctors from a special response team.
Astonished rescuers knew there was hope after they heard moaning from the wreckage.
Paramedic Mel Bird reassured the trapped women and described operations to them as lifting gear was put in place to jack up the lorry, the crushed car was winched free and cutting equipment used to remove the roof.
Leominster Fire Station sub-officer Dave Taylor, who led rescue efforts until senior officers arrived on the scene, paid tribute to the way his colleague "talked through" the rescue.
"Mel's combination of skills, as both a firefighter and a paramedic, were absolutely ideal in this type of incident," he said, also praising the way the large force of rescuers from different services worked together in a "textbook" operation.
The lorry drivers were not injured and the names of the injured women have not been released.
Police spokesman Neil Tipton said one suffered a gashed head and the other a broken arm, cuts and bruises.
Witnesses to the collision or who saw the car and three Volvo articulated lorries travelling south are being asked to contact the Road Policing Team at Hereford on 08457 444888.
© Newsquest Media Group 2008