The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Lee pulled friends from burning car wreckage
A TEENAGER who pulled four unconscious friends from the wreckage of his burning car recalled yesterday the moment he believed they were all dead.
Lee Smith (17) was driving round a corner on the A85 near Lochty, Perthshire, on Thursday when his Peugeot 106 leapt onto the verge and hit an oncoming car.
Despite burns all over his body and a broken collarbone and wrist, Lee dragged his friends to safety before passing out.
The apprentice mechanic from Crieff said: “I thought my pals were dead. I was shouting to them but they didn’t answer and they weren’t moving or anything.
“The car was already on fire, but I managed to get out and then I helped the first person out from the passenger side.
“Then I was trying to get my pals out of the back, but I was struggling to find the release for the front seat chair to go down.
“But I managed to find it in the end and was able to pull them to safety”
He added: “By the time I got the fourth person out, the whole car was on fire.
“Then I passed out again. The next thing I remember is waking up with paramedics all around me.”
The five teenagers and a 65-year-old man driving his Nissan Primera in the other direction were taken to Ninewells Hospital in Dundee.
Lee said the last thing he remembers before the crash is seeing the headlights of the oncoming vehicle.
He said: “We were driving back home from Mcdonald’s and I just remember the back end stepping out as we came round the corner.
“It was like we had driven over ice or something and the car went up the bank and across the road.
“I saw the headlights of the other car and blacked out on impact. I woke up face down with what I think was petrol on my face.”
Paramedics and police attended at the scene, while the fire crew said it was “amazing” that no one was killed.
Lee’s mother, Wendy, said: “Everyone is okay, bar a few broken bones and scratches — which is a huge relief.
“A lot of people will think that a car full of five teenagers will have been just a boy racer going too fast, but Lee wasn’t speeding and the chap driving the other car confirmed that.
“He just said ‘don’t worry, son, accidents happen’.”
Lee has been inundated with thanks from relatives of his passengers.
Wendy said: “A grandfather of one of the passengers drove 50 miles, all the way from Glasgow, to come round to say thank you to Lee.
“They were both in tears. He shook my son’s hand four times and Lee said: ‘I don’t need any thanks. I’m just glad that I was able to get everyone out’.”