Dave Seel (left) and Dave Anderson
(right) with their awards
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Dave Seel was travelling on the A57
Manchester to see a customer when he
noticed a collection of vehicles beside a
canal on a bridge. There were a few people
standing looking over the bridge and they
seemed concerned.
He says: “I was noticed by one bystander
who signalled to me to get assistance. I got
out of my vehicle and looked at what was
causing the interest. To my horror, I
observed a small vehicle that looked as
though it had travelled approximately 20
feet down an embankment, through two
fences and then a further 15 feet into a canal.
“The vehicle was upside down with only
the four wheels and 1/10th of the underbody
showing. It is alleged that the vehicle
was hit from the rear by a HGV, which
caused the incident.”
Dave Seel shouted down to a bystander,
who was in the canal, as to whether there
was anyone in the vehicle, and was shocked
to discover that there was. Donning his high
visibility jacket and helmet, he proceeded
down the route the vehicle had taken into
the canal.
He continues: “I was wearing a suit at the
time. By the time I got into the canal a further
bystander had ventured into the water to assist
and they had managed to get one occupant
out of the vehicle – a female passenger. I
managed to get the driver’s door open and
pulled her husband out of the vehicle.
“He was unconscious and submerged. I
realised that he could have been in that state
prior to my arrival, some 10 to 15 minutes.
With the assistance of the bystanders, we got
the husband and wife to the edge of the
canal, where there was a small stone and
sand-filled embankment for my assessment
of their injuries.”
An ambulance arrived along with the
fire service, which was a welcoming sight.
The fire service checked the vehicle in
case there were any further occupants,
as well as the surrounding area, and
fortunately, there was none.
A primary and secondary survey Dave
carried out on the couple found only cuts
and bruises. He then trudged back out of the
canal, up the 15ft ladder, up a 1 in 4 muddy
embankment of 20 feet and back to his
vehicle.
He sums up the experience thus: “I have
been a member of the Red Cross for over 25
years and was a paramedic for Mersey
Regional Ambulance Service for over 12
years. I can honestly say I have never dealt
with an incident quite like this before.
“The bystanders who were on scene
prior to my arrival were the real heroes.
None of them had any formal training to
deal with an incident like this, and yet set
up a ladder for the rescue and even made
attempts to get into the water.”
Dave puts his actions on that day down to
the level of training and exposure to similar
incidents over the years he had received
from the Red Cross and the ambulance
service.
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