Man who stopped lorry crash on A34 near Winchester speaks of PTSD

David Hargreaves, 53, was a passenger in the articulated lorry when he had to pull it off the A34 near South Wonston on Tuesday, August 24, 2021. He said: "We were driving along when all of a sudden I heard the driver say 'Oh no' and he collapsed against the steering wheel. I had to jump over him and take control of the vehicle, and we were travelling at 57 miles an hour on the dual carriageway.

I did not have any training. "There was gravel alongside the A34, and I thought that it would slow the lorry down. So, I managed to steer the lorry there and stopped it, and called an ambulance."

David Hargreaves (Image: David Hargreaves) Mr Hargreaves, who lives in Fleetwood, Lancashire, said that the ambulance arrived six minutes after he pulled the lorry over, but the driver still died of cardiac arrest. However, Mr Hargreaves said that the experience left him unable to return to work.

He now struggles with PTSD. He said: "I tried going back to work. After the two weeks I had off, they said I have to go off sick.

My family all said that I should go back to work and I tried for a few months, but I just couldn't do it any more. It was always on my mind. I've been on sick pay for the last three years.

"The police said at the time that I had done a good job of preventing an accident, and that people could have lost their lives. "It could have gone another way." A police spokesperson said: "On Tuesday, August 24, 2021, police received a call from South Central Ambulance Service at 6.19am, to report that an HGV Driver on the A34 dual carriageway near South Wonston was in cardiac arrest.

"A 59-year-old man from Fleetwood, Lancashire, was pronounced deceased at the scene.

A file was prepared for the coroner."