You're a lifesaver

Nov 5 2003 By Lisa Jones, Ellesmere Port Pioneer

A WHITBY man became a reluctant hero by saving the life of a motorcyclist who lost a leg in a road accident.

Jason Barratt, 30, came to the aid of 31-year-old John Kemp, from Mancot in Flintshire, when he was knocked off his motorbike while returning home from work at British Aerospace in Broughton.

Jason, of Hyde Close, said: 'I saw him lying in the road and the people standing around weren't doing anything to help.

'I pulled up and checked the area but John's leg was my main concern.

'The bone had gone through his artery and out the back, so he was bleeding an awful lot.'

Luckily, Jason had gone through a four-day first aid training course three years ago and had a first aid kit in his car.

He was able to apply pressure to John's leg to stem the bleeding and kept him conscious by talking to him until the emergency services arrived about 10 minutes later.

John, a father-of-two, said: 'I was slipping in and out of consciousness and in immense pain.

'The emergency services had closed off the road, deciding that I was a fatality.

'They thought there was no way they could get me to hospital in time to save my life.

'It takes eight minutes to get to the hospital and I wouldn't have survived the journey without first aid.'

It wasn't until later that Jason realised that by coincidence John was a former work-mate in his department at British Aerospace.