Hero drags driver from burning car

A Shropshire man was today hailed a hero after he dragged a man from his car as it burst into flames following a crash.Fire chiefs today said Ivor Jones saved the life of the victim, who was pulled onto a grass verge before his car was “engulfed” in fire.

Mr Jones and his girlfriend Kate Schofield, from Hadnall, were driving near Prees last night and witnessed a two-car crash on the A49.

Mr Jones leapt into action, pulling a 22-year-old driver from his BMW as it burst into flames, while Miss Schofield went to the aid of a 33-year-old woman driving a Ford Focus.

The man was airlifted to the University Hospital of North Staffordshire with a fractured hip and collarbone, and the woman was taken by ambulance to the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital with a chest injury. Both have today been described as stable.

The smash happened near the Platt Farm junction shortly before 6pm.

Today, Mr Jones, 44, said he and a lorry driver, who also stopped at the scene, dragged the man out of his car as the footwell on the driver’s side of the car caught fire.

He said: “You just have to be brave and think quickly, so I just did what I had to do rather than watch him burn to death. I don’t think about my own safety when there’s a life in danger; you can repair broken bones.

“The footwell was on fire when we pulled him out, and he had a broken pelvis and he was taken off by the air ambulance. We didn’t know if he had broken his spine or anything, but we just pulled him out as safely as we could.

“The police thanked me for my bravery, but what was I supposed to do, watch him burn to death?

“There is absolutely nothing left of the car now.

“I’d like to know how he gets on, and I’d like to see him again.”

Mr Jones said he was first aid trained when he was a social worker for mentally disabled children and elderly people, and his partner, Kate, 22, is also a carer.

Sub officer Tony Peck, of Prees Fire Station, said: “Their swift actions perhaps saved that young man’s life, when we got their the car was engulfed in flames.”