Why brave Michelle is van-tastic
THIS is the moment a brave volunteer stood in front of a van to stop it from ploughing through a carnival parade.
Michelle Hurley, 32, was volunteering as a marshal at the Hazel Grove carnival parade on the A6 on Saturday, when a van ignored road closure signs and tried to cut across the parade.
Witnesses saw the Snugworld Beds van overtake stationary cars before a man got out, moved a road sign and tried to stop the parade - which featured hundreds of children- so it could cross the A6 from a side street.
Michelle bravely blocked the van’s path to protect the youngsters, and refused to move until the police arrived, even after the men bumped her legs with the van and subjected her to verbal abuse.
Now Michelle has been hailed a hero by the community, but the modest trainee plumbing and gas engineer says she was only doing her job.
Michelle said: “I grew up in Hazel Grove and I grew up with the carnival. I’m passionate about it.
“I was just doing my job keeping people safe and I’m thankful we managed to do that.
“It wasn’t just me, all the marshals do a fantastic job.
“I’m just not one to back down in a situation like that.
“Overall the day was a huge success and the incident didn’t put a dampener on it”.
Parent Emma Quinn-Jones was watching her young daughter take part in the parade and says she fears for what could have happened without Michelle.
Emma said: “She would not let the guy in the van through. He drove on the pavement and repeatedly rammed into her as he wanted to get past.
“If Michelle had moved the story could have been very different. I’m truly thankful to her”.
Others have taken to social media to praise Michelle, with comments including: “What a woman. A local hero for keeping everyone safe and standing up to mindless idiots”.
Another posted: “In light of the recent terrible events in Nice, it takes a special kind of stupid to think that forcing a van into a crowd is a good idea”.
The annual community event meanwhile, which raises money for charity, has been hailed a huge success, with thousands of people enjoying the day.
Snugworld Beds has been approached for comment. »»For pictures from Hazel Grove Carnival see pages 34 and 35.