‘Prepare for the worst,’ said a man’s voice. He was talking about me...
CRASH VICTIM BACKS SAFETY CALLS FOR A6
TREVOR Goodwin remembers hearing a man’s voice saying: “You should prepare for the worst”.
He did not know it at the time, but he was the hospital patient on the brink of death.
The 62-year-old had been placed into an induced coma after suffering 23 fractures and serious internal injuries in a car crash.
“I was in a coma but somehow I was conscious and I could see a pinprick through one of my eyes,” he said.
“I could see a part of my daughter’s dress and I could hear a man’s voice.
“I could not see the man, but it must have been the doctor. He was telling her that I had a lot of serious injuries and probably would not make it out alive.
“It was surreal because at first I did not realise who they were talking about.
“Even when it dawned on me that they were talking about me I did not panic. I was surprisingly calm about it. I think that might have been the drugs.”
But make it out alive he did. After four days in the coma in critical care at a Coventry hospital, Trevor was moved to the intensive care unit.
After a month there he moved to another hospital, then a rehabilitation hospital for another four weeks.
Trevor, now 66, has spoken for the first time about the crash, on the A6 just outside Market Harborough, on September 6, 2016.
The former newspaper printing consultant, who worked at the
I nearly died there, but I was lucky. The next person might not be so lucky
Leicester Mercury from 2002 to 2004, is backing a call for urgent safety improvements for the A6 at the Kettering Road junction, at Clack Hill.
Trevor, who lives a few miles outside Market Harborough, has signed an online petition calling for improvements at the accident blackspot.
It took fire crews more than two hours to cut him out of the wreckage before he was airlifted to hospital.
“It was my first ever ride in a helicopter and I don’t remember a thing about it,” he said.
“I had been babysitting for my daughter, who lived in Market Harborough, and was on my way home.
“I pulled out on to the A6 and was hit by a van.
“It made a right mess of my Ford Mondeo and of me. I was very badly bashed up.”
Trevor said he had 16 fractures in his ribs and seven in his collar bone, shoulder, hip and pelvis.
“I also had a badly bruised lung, pancreas and liver. I was in a very bad way. It was touch and go.
“The doctors told me they thought I was not going to pull through. I had other ideas.”
Trevor signed the petition because he feels the junction needs to be made safer.
“There was a crash the other week when a car ended up on its roof,” he said.
“A friend of mine sent me a photograph of it and said, ‘Look someone has had an accident at your junction.’
“People call it my junction after my accident there.
“I have never driven since that fateful night and have no intention of doing so again. I suppose it is down to the fear factor.
“But I don’t miss driving. I walk or get a taxi if needs be.
“I survived, but someone else might not be so lucky so that is why the junction needs to be made safer.
“I don’t want anyone to die there. I nearly did, but I was lucky. The next person to crash might not be so lucky.”
So far, more than 480 people have signed the petition.