November 2009 - SWIFT Doctor attends A4 crash

A lorry driver was airlifted to hospital on Monday following a four-vehicle collision on the A4 near Corsham.

The man, in his 50s, was taken from the Norman E Webb lorry on a spinal board after the lorry ploughed into a hedge at around 8am.

He had been travelling towards the Cross Keys junction when he was involved in a collision with a Astra van, a Mercedes car and an Astra car.

Corsham fire watch manager Mark Unwin said: “We found the lorry lodged in the hedge on the opposite side of the road to which it was travelling.

“We had difficulty getting him out of the lorry because the driver’s side of the vehicle was completely blocked by the hedge so we had to put him onto a spinal board and bring him out through the passenger door.”

Initially the man had suspected back injuries and abdomen pain, however after being airlifted to the Royal United Hospital in Bath he was found to have cuts, bruises and a broken hand.

His wife, who wishes to remain nameless, thanked the emergency service. “The air ambulance managed to get my husband to hospital in just four minutes and the policemen and fire service were also brilliant,” she said.

SWIFT medic doctor Jonathan Glover, who works as a GP in Marlborough, helped get the man out of the lorry. “The issue here was that he had been trapped for quite a while so we had to try and get him out as quickly as possible,” he said.

The driver of another vehicle was also taken to the RUH by land ambulance as a precaution.