EXCLUSIVE: Nurse treats crash victim on deadly UK road
Nurse Grainne Wokes was nearly killed in a horrific crash on the A41 when an SUV hit her head on. Only days earlier she had helped victims of a crash at the same spot of the road which has been dubbed a danger
Grainne Wokes, pictured with husband Brian, was almost killed in a collision on a deadly UK road days after helping a crash victim on the same highway(Supplied)
A nurse has slammed a deadly UK road stretch after she treated a crash[1] victim then was almost killed near the same spot days later. Grainne Wokes is lucky to be alive after her small Fiesta was hit head-on by a huge SUV on the wrong side of the road on the A41.
The 45-year-old suspects the man driving had been trying to overtake another vehicle when he hit her, escaping uninjured.
The nursing manager from Bicester, Oxon., had been driving home from a shift at a care home in Aylesbury January 2021 when the Cherokee smashed into her, leaving her with injuries which trauma medics said were the worst they had seen in a crash survivor. More than two-and-a-half years on and still unable to move properly, Grainne is lobbying to bring in more safety measures as statistics reveal there has been more than one death every two weeks on the road since 2014.
Grainne was told her injuries were among the worst seen in car crash survivors(Supplied)
Her life-changing injuries left her off work for weeks(Supplied)
“I was driving home, it was dark and pretty miserable. Suddenly there was a car coming towards me on my side of the road,” Grainne told The Mirror. “I just remember this flash bang and then there’s a big section I just can’t recall.” Grainne was left with life-changing injuries in the crash, fracturing her hip and sustaining multiple injuries to her left foot, and was off work for months.
“My foot was spun completely around during the crash and got trapped. I’ve been told now it’s never going to get any better. I’ve got to try to live with it now.
It’s been suggested I’ll need surgery on my ankle in the future and will likely get arthritis[2] later down the line.” Just days earlier, Grainne was driving along the exact same stretch of road when a car in front ploughed into a vehicle pulling out of a junction. The experienced nurse rushed to help the people involved in the crash, treating them at the side of the road whilst awaiting an ambulance.
The scene of Grainne’s crash on the A41(Supplied)
“I got them out of the car and they were walking about,” she explained. “I just helped the young ladies until I was able to hand them over to paramedics.
I couldn’t leave them as shock can set in at any time.” Thankfully, nobody was seriously injured in that particular accident. The man who hit Grainne escaped uninjured, and was prosecuted for causing injury by careless driving. He was given nine points on his licence and a GBP400 fine in court.
“My husband used to work in the police and told me they had never seen an accident that bad where someone had survived,” she added. “Even the doctors on the trauma unit were saying that, commenting on how unusual my injuries were.”
Jogger Kimberley Cameron died on the same stretch of the road after being hit by a police car in April 2021 – weeks after Grainne’s accident(HNP Newsdesk/Hyde News & Pictures Ltd)
Jorell Pascal, 18, from Aylesbury, died after getting into a crash on the A41 in July 2021(police handout)
Some 223 people have been killed in crashes on the A41 between 2014 and 2019, according to the most recent data available, equating to nearly one every week.
Just three months after the crash which nearly killed Grainne, jogger Kimberley Cameron died[3] after being hit by a police car on a pedestrian crossing on the same stretch of road. In July of the same year, 18-year-old Jorell Pascal died on the A41 in Hertfordshire after his Seat Ibiza collided with a van.
Grainne now believes, with the construction of a HS2 station near the road, the issue will only get worse and, along with husband Brian, is now petitioning for more speed calming measures to prevent further tragedies on the A41. She added: “My worry is the next person won’t be so lucky.
I can’t face the thought of others being in that situation I was in knowing I hadn’t done anything about it.”[4][5]
References
- ^ crash (www.mirror.co.uk)
- ^ arthritis (www.mirror.co.uk)
- ^ jogger Kimberley Cameron died (www.mirror.co.uk)
- ^ HS2 station (www.mirror.co.uk)
- ^ petitioning for more speed calming measures (www.change.org)