This is Staffordshire -- CRASH victim Paul Lonergan is lucky to be alive after his car spun around five times on a busy motorway before crashing down a ditch and into trees. The crash left unemployed Paul and his sister trapped in darkness down an embankment in their car at 8.40pm and with little idea where they were on the M1. But Paul called 999 and call handlers tried to piece together the location of the stricken Citreon C3. They were eventually rescued by firefighters more than 30 minutes after the crash. The drama unfolded between junctions 45 and 46 in the Leeds area as the car was caught up in Wednesday night's freak storms. The siblings were returning to Stoke-on-Trent after visiting relatives in Newcastle-upon-Tyne when they hit a patch of deep water on the carriageway. Paul, aged 42, of Duncan Street, Fenton, said: "I didn't have a clue what had happened. My sister was in the car with me and she was screaming. I just kept asking her if she was all right and telling her to calm down. "It was really scary. When we crashed, we went into a load of trees so we couldn't get out of the car. "It was dark and late at night and we didn't have a clue where we were. I couldn't remember which junction we had just passed so I was worried we wouldn't be found." Paul and his sister tried to work out their location by using a sat nav and the internet on their mobile phones. But call handlers at West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service (WYFRS) stayed on the line until emergency crews arrived to rescue them. Paul added: "They told us they were sending someone but the woman on the end of the phone said she would stay on the line with me until they arrived. I saw some blue flashing lights and told the woman on the phone who then told the fire engines where we were. "Fortunately there wasn't a mark on any of us and we were really lucky. I dread to think what could have happened." Paul and his sister did not need hospital treatment, although the car had to be towed away. WYFRS today praised control staff for helping to find the casualties. Assistant Chief Officer Dave Walton said: "I know the control staff who handled this call will probably say they were just part of a team doing their job, but the nature of the call was by any standards outside of the norm. The occupants of the vehicle relied on their common sense, logic and use of technology to ensure that the appropriate emergency response was sent to them. "The control staff stayed on the line throughout the 25-minute call to ensure the occupants of the vehicle were kept calm and ultimately located."
Reported by This is 10 hours ago.
This is Staffordshire -- CRASH victim Paul Lonergan is lucky to be alive after his car spun around five times on a busy motorway before crashing down a ditch and into trees. The crash left unemployed Paul and his sister trapped in darkness down an embankment in their car at 8.40pm and with little idea where they were on the M1. But Paul called 999 and call handlers tried to piece together the location of the stricken Citreon C3. They were eventually rescued by firefighters more than 30 minutes after the crash. The drama unfolded between junctions 45 and 46 in the Leeds area as the car was caught up in Wednesday night's freak storms. The siblings were returning to Stoke-on-Trent after visiting relatives in Newcastle-upon-Tyne when they hit a patch of deep water on the carriageway. Paul, aged 42, of Duncan Street, Fenton, said: "I didn't have a clue what had happened. My sister was in the car with me and she was screaming. I just kept asking her if she was all right and telling her to calm down. "It was really scary. When we crashed, we went into a load of trees so we couldn't get out of the car. "It was dark and late at night and we didn't have a clue where we were. I couldn't remember which junction we had just passed so I was worried we wouldn't be found." Paul and his sister tried to work out their location by using a sat nav and the internet on their mobile phones. But call handlers at West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service (WYFRS) stayed on the line until emergency crews arrived to rescue them. Paul added: "They told us they were sending someone but the woman on the end of the phone said she would stay on the line with me until they arrived. I saw some blue flashing lights and told the woman on the phone who then told the fire engines where we were. "Fortunately there wasn't a mark on any of us and we were really lucky. I dread to think what could have happened." Paul and his sister did not need hospital treatment, although the car had to be towed away. WYFRS today praised control staff for helping to find the casualties. Assistant Chief Officer Dave Walton said: "I know the control staff who handled this call will probably say they were just part of a team doing their job, but the nature of the call was by any standards outside of the norm. The occupants of the vehicle relied on their common sense, logic and use of technology to ensure that the appropriate emergency response was sent to them. "The control staff stayed on the line throughout the 25-minute call to ensure the occupants of the vehicle were kept calm and ultimately located."
Reported by This is 10 hours ago.
