Shrewsbury crash driver: I am so lucky to have survived
A driver who miraculously escaped a the mangled wreckage of his car after it was crushed by a lorry today declared: "I'm lucky to be alive."
Peter Okonski believes if the lorry that smashed into the back of his car had been fully loaded he would have been killed.
As it was he suffered a severely broken arm and head injuries, but has been told he will make a full recovery.
Today Mr Olonski says he wants to use his story as an example of the "outstanding" work carried out by emergency services, especially NHS staff who have helped him back on his feet.
He says his treatment shows the good work carried out by medics and nurses every day in Shropshire, despite criticisms made nationally of the NHS.
More than two months after the accident on Shropshire's A5, Mr Okonski is still in pain and suffering sleepless nights.
The site manager with the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust was driving on the A5 from Shrewsbury to Telford when the accident happened on January 15.
His car was hit from behind by a lorry, pushing his vehicle into the back of the car he was following.
Speaking from his home in Newcastle-under-Lyme he today said: "I was told the lorry was empty at the time it hit me. If it had been full they would have been picking me out of the metal.
"I have been in a lot of pain and have not really slept, but it could have been a lot worse. I might not have been here at all."
Mr Okonski said he did not remember much of the accident after being hit by the lorry.
He said: "I had just come off Mytton Oak Road onto the A5. I was stuck behind a small car in front which was going slower all the time. It slowed to about 20 to 25mph.
"The car looked like it was breaking down so I thought I would overtake it. But I couldn't get passed it. There was traffic coming up on the right and I just couldn't get into it.
"I kept looking in my rear view mirror to see if there was a gap. The last time I looked I saw a white HGV which just rammed into me.
"The next thing I remember is seeing a face at the window asking if I was alright and I said to the guy: 'I need an ambulance' because my right arm had gone completely limp.
"I was told I had hit the car in front of me but I don't remember that."
Firefighters had to cut the roof off Mr Okonski's car after attempts to get him out through the front and back doors failed.
He said: "It was pretty horrendous when they were smashing the glass to get me out. I was semi-conscious and the noise was horrific.
"They got me out, cut my clothes off me and put me on a spinal board and took me to the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital in an ambulance. I was in a lot of pain. I've never known pain like it.
"I have never been hospitalised before and didn't know what to expect. The support, diligence, and continual conversational reassurances were unbelievable.
"When I was there I just felt reassured and confident.
"It's very rare that I can be stuck for words but I'm struggling to find adjectives suitable to describe these wonderful charismatic individuals.
"I am told that I have been very fortunate to survive the smash, but for me the luck changed for the better when I was in the very capable hands of all the professional staff."
He said: "When the doctor was putting stitches into my head one of the nurses held my hand. She could see I was distressed.
"The nurses I saw never stopped. I don't know where they got their energy from."
Mr Okonski said his treatment at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital was put into focus when he was later referred to the University Hospital of North Staffordshire for follow-up X-rays.
He said: "The doctor said he though I needed an operation. I asked him what the alternatives were and he said I could leave it to see if it healed but I could lose up to 30 per cent of my nerve endings.
"When I went back again it had started to heal and another doctor said I had made the right decision – something I had originally been told by doctors at Shrewsbury.
I felt like a statistic at North Staffs, I didn't feel like that at Shrewsbury."
Peter Herring, chief executive of the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust, said: "It is always incredibly rewarding to see the positive impact our staff and services have on people's lives when they require the specialist emergency care we provide."
