A HAVE-a-go-hero saved the life of a 24-year-old woman trapped in her car after it smashed through a bridge wall and landed upside down in a river.
Chester Aid To The Homeless manager Matt Roberts, 40, was in the kitchen of his Aldford home when he heard a loud bang and leapt into action.
He said: “I was about 150 yards away up the road when I heard the impact. I knew what it was straight away. I legged it down the road and saw the car upside down in the middle of the brook.”
Seeing the precarious position the car was in, Matt threw caution to the wind and plunged into the 6ft deep water.
“The main problem was the mud which I got stuck in,” he added.
“Another man came to help and a gardener from the pub phoned the emergency services. We forced the car’s back door open and we could she see was seriously hurt. I could hear groaning noises. She was upside down and near enough submerged. We pulled her from the front to the back of the car because I was concerned it was going to sink further.
“We didn’t want to move her without the paramedics so I kept her head above the water with my arms underneath hers. She was drifting in and out of consciousness but she told me she lived a couple of miles up the road and that no one else was in the car with her.”
The victim, who was driving a grey Vauxhall Astra, suffered hypothermia and leg and spinal injuries and remains in a serious but stable condition at the Countess of Chester Hospital.
Matt said: “I would do it again. It’s a natural response. She definitely would have drowned if I hadn’t gone in.”
Chester PC John Forshaw of the road policing unit praised Matt’s actions. He said: “He’s done a great job. He jumped into the river and stayed in there for about 25 minutes fighting to keep her head above the water.”
