‘juSt inStinct’

Speaking about the moment straight after the crash, electrician John Stevens, who was travelling to Ashford with his son Bobby, said it was just instinct for him to get out and help.

He said: “We saw the car career across the road head on into the car coming the other way. We just had to help.

“We saw both the cars had smoke coming from them and two people were trapped.

“We pulled the gentleman out of his car, because there was a lot of smoke coming from that, and laid him on the ground.”

After this, John and Bobby went to help Chris with the Perodua.

John, a dad of three and grandad of four, said: “We didn’t actually talk, we just did it.

“There was a lot of other members of the public coming and throwing water on the car too.

“We didn’t know it was a woman in the car, we didn’t know who it was, but just thought we need to get her out the car.

“We was literally just doing what a normal human being would do, and help someone else in trouble.”

John admitted that he was told off by his mum for getting involved. He joked: “She said I shouldn’t have gone near the car, as it was on fire.”

Speaking about the awards ceremony, John said: “It’s nice we did something that meant something to a lot of people, and get an award for it.

“I’m just pleased the woman is coming through it, and the other lad involved is too.”