Newark HGV driver, of Sid Hill Transport in Blackpool, saves life after collision on M6 near Stafford
A Newark driver has recounted her efforts to save an elderly man on one of the UK’s busiest motorways after he suffered a medical episode.
Haley Revitt was driving her HGV along the M6 near Stafford on Wednesday (January 16) when the elderly driver of the car in front of her had a medical episode at the wheel, drifted onto the armco barrier twice.
He then swerved into a car that had broken down in an emergency refuse area — thankfully the family who owned the car were safely on the hard shoulder on the other side of the barrier and were not hurt.
His car then drifted back on the M6 and came to a halt in between the left and middle lanes.
Haley, the first female driver to work for Sid Hill Transport based in Blackpool, said: “It was like I was watching it in slow motion, I realised something wasn’t right and put my hazards on and slowed down to give him some space.”
She managed to angle her vehicle behind the stricken car to shield it from oncoming traffic and managed to get him out of his car and onto the hard shoulder.
She said: “The man wasn’t injured luckily but he was very dazed and confused, he kept trying to restart the car so I managed to get his keys off him and got him over to the hard shoulder.
“He didn’t remember anything that he’d just done, so there was obviously something medically wrong happening.”
Once the elderly man was safely onto the hard shoulder, Haley called the emergency services and even attempted to push his stricken car, which was by now badly damaged, off the motorway and tried flagging down passing cars and trucks to help her, but sadly help was not forthcoming.
Haley stayed with the patient until the emergency services arrived to take him to hospital, but despite her heroic actions that evening which prevented a more serious collision and saw everyone involved escape with no injuries, she said she doesn’t feel like a hero.
“I just happened to be there at the time and I couldn’t just drive past — if something like this is happening, you’ve got to do something,” she said.
“It was pitch black and after he hit the barrier his lights weren’t working, I couldn’t possibly leave him.
“It is what it is, you just crack on and get on with it and I didn’t really think about it at the time.”
Haley travels all over Europe for Sid Hill Transport and can be away for weeks at a time, but said that she loves the trucker lifestyle and “there’s nothing else I want to do”.
Sid Hill co-director Jo Hill said that Haley’s actions were “wholly selfless” and they were so proud to have her as one of their drivers:
“Haley has been with us for a couple of years and brings a new dynamic to the team — sometimes showing the guys how it should be done!” she said, “She’s brilliant and we love having her on our team.”
Jo said that Haley would feature in the company’s newsletter as Superstar of the Month for her heroic actions.
“It takes some real bravery for what she did and she thought on her feet and done a great deed — we’re all so proud of her.”