A HEROIC dad who used his own car to stop an out of control Audi on the motorway has described it as “one of the most horrific things” he has seen.
John Barlow, bravely put himself in harm’s way to stop the runaway vehicle after its driver suffered a seizure and looked “dead at the wheel”.
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John had noticed the other driver heading slowly along the busy overtaking lane on the M62 and terrifyingly thought he had died while driving.
Risking his own life, he moved his Hyundai in front of the now-driverless Audi and eased off the accelerator to slow the approaching vehicle to a stop.
Once a disastrous crash had been prevented, he leapt out of his car to help the barely-breathing driver.
Describing the shocking ordeal he said: “I could see his lips were blue and he had blood trickling down his face. His head was tilting forward.
“I thought ‘Oh my God, I’ve got to stop him'”.
“It might seem a bit nuts to do this, but you do daft things when you don’t have time to think,” he added.
Martial arts instructor John got the stricken man out of the car with the help of a tradesman who had also stopped and used a hammer to gain access to the vehicle.
Fortunately, John had recently undergone first aid training and gave the unfortunate Audi owner CPR.
Even more miraculously, there was a doctor on the other side of the carriageway or fetched a defibrillator from the next junction and battled through backed up traffic to get it to the scene.
John said: “Everyone was amazing, it was a real team effort. They got the man on the floor, then the doctor jumped in as well.
“Just seeing all the other people working together to save someone’s life is a brilliant…Things like this certainly helps keep peoples faith that the majority of people are decent folks.”
Apparently, John received a call yesterday from West Yorkshire police thanking him for his help.
He reports that he was told the driver had suffered a seizure but was well enough to go home from hospital.
John’s car did not suffer any serious damage and he was able to continue his journey to collect his kitten, Joey.
He says that he hopes the story will encourage people to get first aid training so that they can help in similar emergencies.
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