Picture: DAVID WOOD
A PARAMEDIC student from the University of Sunderland (UoS) proved a guardian angel for a cyclist badly injured in a road crash.
Kay Norris was able to put her trainee skills into action after witnessing the incident, which left cyclist Andrew Moore with a catalogue of injuries.
Now Andrew has said a special ‘thank you’ to Kay, who helped keep him safe as paramedics rushed to the scene.
Andrew, 31, from Blyth, Northumberland, said: “She was calm and did all the right things – I know she’ll make a great paramedic.”
Third year Paramedic Science student Kay had been driving from her home to go horse riding when she saw the crash.
The 32-year-old said: “I had got to a busy roundabout not far from my home when I saw the collision between a cyclist and a car.
“Everything seemed to happen in slow motion, I just saw this guy go flying up into the air.
“I stopped the car straight away, got out and ran over to him. There were a few other people standing around, but I think they were scared to touch him.”
Kay’s paramedic skills kicked into action and she immediately knew what to do.
“While someone rang an ambulance,” recalls Kay, “I knew I had to carry out a trauma assessment to see the extent of his injuries.”
Andrew, who had been riding home from work, sustained injuries to his head and neck, as well as fractures to his back.
Kay added: “I reassured him and asked him questions which I knew would help assess just how badly he’d been hurt.
“I guess I was just on autopilot, remembering what I’d learned at university. I wasn’t really thinking about my own safety, I just wanted to make sure that he was OK.”
Once paramedics arrived on the scene, Kay was able to pass on information about Andrew’s condition.
Now, Andrew, who is expected to be off work for three months while he recovers, hopes Kay will get some recognition for her actions.
He said: “She took care and control of the whole situation and reacted swiftly and calmly throughout, which in turn kept me calm and safe on a busy roundabout during rush hour.
“When the ambulance arrived, she liaised with the paramedics, relaying everything she knew about me and my injuries, saving what could have been vital time had my injuries been life-threatening.
“She was amazing.”
Kay says she has always wanted to be a paramedic and is looking forward to putting what she has learned to further practice once she leaves University.
She added: “I’ve loved being on the programme at the University and it was certainly interesting putting what I have learned to the test in a real life situation.”