Volunteer police officer had seconds to intervene in serious crash aftermath on M6
Alex Rose had seconds to decide how to act when he came across a serious crash on the M6. A volunteer police officer who works as a long-distance lorry driver had only seconds to react to save someone's life after a serious crash on the M6 near Staffordshire. Alex Rose, 29, serves as part of Lancashire's Special Constabulary, which means he works as a volunteer, and drives a HGV for Bowker in Bamber Bridge as his full-time job.
He lives in Chorley but was brought up in Penwortham and attended All Hallows as his secondary school. He was travelling to Birmingham on the M6 on 26 February at around 9.30pm when he came across a serious crash in the Staffordshire area. One vehicle had crashed into the central barrier and was facing the wrong way. Even worse - the driver was still in his car and the view of him was obscured by a bend in the carriageway.
All of a sudden I;ve seen a lot of people braking and putting hazard lights on. "I've come round and seen the car facing the wrong way on the motorway in the third lane and the driver still in the driver's seat, "My instincts said that I'm in a HGV and it's a lot safer than someone being in a small car.
So I positioned myself in the third lane, put my hazard lights on, and then I've been pressing the rear fog lights on and off to get people's attention. "People seemed to react to it and people started going round. So I've jumped out to go and get the driver because he was still sat in the car.
He was very dazed. All his airbags have been deployed and he's got cuts on him. I got him safely into the cab.
"I rang 999 and gave them a location. It felt like forever but they were probably there inside 10 minutes." He then used a torch to warn oncoming traffic of the hazard ahead of them until Staffordshire Police arrived and closed the motorway.
Then he was back on his way in the HGV. Because of where the incident happened, on a bend on the M6, Alex had literally seconds to react if he was going to help the individual in the car. He said: "You just react to it and I'm fortunate that I've had plenty of training.
I've been to numerous crashes and I knew how to deal with it. Everyone's got a right to life so the priority was to protect them and that comes before everything. "I felt confident acting while off-duty and fortunately it was just taking care of someone rather than having to deal with any violence."
Alex spent his childhood dreaming of being a police officer - like many - but instead at the age of 18 he entered recruitment. He had a career change in January of this year and now drives a HGV for Bowker. In Lancashire, there are over 100 special constables how help the police to manage major events, deal with life or death situations and otherwise assist in the line of duty.
Full training is provided if someone successfully applies to volunteer as part of the special constabulary. Alex said: "I'm getting to live my childhood dream in that I can work across departments without being tied to one. We're in a privileged position working as a special constable in that I can put it down when I want to but I still enjoy my job full time.
"I police the areas that I've grown up in and so I get a lot out of being able to keep these places safe and give back to the community. "I've also been to people standing on bridges, or victims of domestic violence, and these can be challenging mentally and emotionally. "I seem to attract a lot of things off duty.
One incident after work and there was someone on the wrong side of the bridge. "I've jumped out and the reaction from the person was a sigh of relief knowing that they had some support. You just try to reason with them and understand it - you can't promise to help people because it's out of your hands but sometimes people just need someone to listen to.
"You think about those people because you hope they get the help they need afterwards." Chief supt Ian Jones, South Divisional Commander at Lancashire Constabulary, said: "Alex demonstrated exactly what it means to serve the public, acting with courage, leadership and professionalism even when off duty. His quick thinking ensured the safety of a vulnerable casualty, helped prevent what could have been a far more serious incident and may well have saved the driver's life.
"Our Special Constabulary is an essential part of our policing family. These are highly committed volunteers who give their time, skills and professionalism to protect the public, often, like Alex, going above and beyond what anyone could expect. We are immensely proud of the dedication shown by Alex and all our Specials every single day."
William Bowker from The Bowker Group said: "We are incredibly proud of Alex and the calm, decisive way he responded in what was clearly a dangerous situation. His actions helped protect other road users and ensured the driver involved was brought to safety. "On behalf of everyone at the company, I would like to personally thank Alex for his quick thinking and life-saving actions.
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