Off-duty fireman's fight to save driver
Off-duty firefighter Lee Evans has told how he battled in vain to save the life of a motorist whose car crashed into a garden wall.
Mr Evans, crew commander at Dudley fire station, gave mouth to mouth and heart massage to the 78-year-old man, who is thought to have fallen ill at the wheel of his vehicle.
The car had crashed into a small garden wall in Glynne Avenue, Kingswinford, about 100 yards from Mr Evans's home.
Mr Evans, aged 50, a former soldier who has been a firefighter for 15 years, said: "I didn't see the crash but came across the car, which had knocked over a small wall, as I came back from the shop.
"Four or five people were gathered around and I went to see if I could help.
"The man who had been driving had stopped breathing – so I dragged him out of the car and carried out cardiopulmonary resuscitation while someone else called an ambulance.
"I carried on trying to resuscitate him for about 10 minutes. I'm sad to hear that he has died."
Father-of-three Mr Evans has been trained in first aid as part of his firefighting role.
He said: "I've used CPR a couple of times before at road accidents, as well as at fires.
"But it's the first time I've used my first aid training while off duty."
The motorist, who has not been named, was taken to Dudley's Russells Hall Hospital but died there later. A female passenger was also taken to the hospital as a precaution.
The accidebt happened on December 23.
