Nurse tells of dramatic moment she dashed to help Burnley road accident victim

A nurse has spoken of the dramatic moment she dashed to help a driver whose vehicle had crashed in Burnley last night.
The crashed BMW after the accident in Barden Lane, Burnley last night.The crashed BMW after the accident in Barden Lane, Burnley last night.
The crashed BMW after the accident in Barden Lane, Burnley last night.

Catherine Ali, who is a nurse practitioner, was on her way home from a meal out with her family when she saw the crashed vehicle, a black BMW, on Barden Lane at around 7pm.

She said: "The car was badly damaged and there was a lot of people crowding around it but no police or paramedics at that point.

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"I ran over and could see the driver was unconscious but breathing and had a pulse but his tongue was obstructing his airways.

"I managed to free his tongue and stabilise him until the paramedics arrived."

Catherine, who is a nurse prescriber at Barrowford Surgery, added that the public who had gathered at the scene were really helpful, locating the drivers wallet and phone so she could find out his name and details.

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A spokesman for Lancashire Police said: "The driver was taken to the Royal Preston Hospital as a precaution."

The air ambulance was in attendance but the driver was taken to the hospital by road.

The incident, which happened at the junction with Windermere Avenue, led to the road being closed for two hours while accident investigators were at the scene.