A WOKING man who risked his life by helping to rescue a driver and his young daughter from a burning car has been given the Royal Humane Society’s highest award.
Lee Watts, of Horsell, was driving back from holiday in Devon with his wife Stacey and their four children when they saw the car collide head-on with a lorry.
The former Navy marine engineer said his military training kicked in and he just jumped out and ran to the damaged car.
“I could see that flames were coming out from the engine and I knew I had to get the people out of car,” he said.
The driver of the lorry in the crash, Paul Le Marechal, had run up to the car driver’s door and was trying to open it.
The injured man was virtually unconscious and had a badly broken leg.
The crash had buckled the door, making it hard to open. Finally wrenching it open, the two men managed to move the driver to safety when the car burst into flames.
Police said later that with the car already ablaze and fuel spilling from it the risk of Paul and Lee being “engulfed in flame or caught in an explosion was very high.”
For more details get the 28 March edition of the News & Mail