A Bushey couple have described the dramatic moments paramedics battled to save a teenager’s life in their hallway.
The medics commandeered the house of Keith and Joyce Wood to treat the 16-year-old girl who was critically injured in a car crash outside their home.
Mr Wood, 58, and his wife, 57, were sitting down to have lunch during a day off work when they heard a “big bang” outside their house, in The Avenue, at about 12.35pm.
Within half an hour, the pair found themselves comforting a shocked 21-year-old girl - who witnessed the horrific collision - and had surrendered their hallway to paramedics treating the injured 16-year-old before she was airlifted to hospital.
The driver of a passing pick-up lorry went to the aid of the teenager while Mr Wood and his wife invited the shocked female witness into their home.
Mr Wood, a full time Christian charity worker, said: “The driver was quickly taken to hospital but the girl was in a much more difficult state and she was making lots of noises. The 21-year-old girl in the other car had the fright of her life I imagine. She came in here and was drinking tea for much of lunch.
“The next thing the paramedic knocked on the door and asked if we'd mind if they moved the teenager in here while they did some work on her. I don't know what they were doing, all sorts of things.
We didn't open the door as we were with the other girl, who was very shaken, and we didn't want to her to see injured girl in distress.”
Paramedics treated the 16-year-old in the house for almost an hour while the air ambulance waited in the grounds of Royal Connaught Park, over the road.
After stabilising the girl and stretchering her to the helicopter, paramedics returned to clear up the Woods' hallway, now strewn with dressings, bandages, straps and medical equipment.
Mr Wood added: “We got a nice thank you, obviously you feel glad to have been able to help. It was a serious accident and you just hope she's ok and out of hospital for Christmas, along with the driver.”
Police, fire, ambulance and air ambulance services were all called to the incident where the silver Vauxhall Corsa had careered into a tree and then a wall in the busy residential street, which was closed off to traffic for several hours.
The driver, a 22-year-old man from St Albans, was rushed to Watford General Hospital with arm and internal injuries while the girl, travelling in the front passenger seat and also from St Albans, was flown to the Royal Free Hospital, in London.
Her injuries, it has since been confirmed, are not life-threatening but she remains in hospital in a serious condition.
Ambulance service spokesman Gary Sanderson said: “Whilst the paramedics and the doctor from the air ambulance were stabilising the patient, a couple who lived close by the collision, offered the crews their house to treat the casualty as the temperature was below freezing.
“This shows true community spirit and they deserve a big thank you for their assistance on the day.”
Though there is no indication the driver was speeding, the collision has raised serious concerns among neighbouring residents over road safety.
In 1996 three teenagers were killed in a car crash just yards away from the scene of Monday's incident, a tragedy which led to speed bumps being built in the road.
Alain Elias, 40, whose property was damaged on Monday, said: “This road is used as a cut through to Watford and the speeds people drive on here is way too high. This was an accident waiting to happen. They need to put in a camera or bigger bumps, they do not deter people. Something has to be done quickly before more people are killed.”
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