A father has spoken of the dramatic moment he used his car to stop a motorist who “looked dead at the wheel” on a busy motorway.
After spotting an Audi heading slowly along the overtaking lane of the M62 near Leeds on Saturday, John Barlow, 59, pulled alongside and saw the driver’s lips were blue and had blood trickling down his face.
He stopped the Audi by pulling up in front with his Hyundai and was able to bring the car to a halt by taking his foot off the accelerator.
He then got out of his car to help the middle-aged Audi driver who was barely breathing.
After trying to break into the locked vehicle using his elbow, Mr Barlow was helped by a tradesman with a hammer to get access to the Audi driver, and then tilted his head back to free his airway.
Others then stopped to help, including a doctor on the other carriageway of the M62 who travelled to the next junction, turned round then battled through the backed-up traffic to get to work with a defibrillator.
Mr Barlow, a martial arts instructor from Middleton, Greater Manchester, said he had first noticed the Audi in the outside lane going slower and slower and pulled alongside.
He said: “He looked dead at the wheel.
“I could see his lips were blue and he had blood trickling down his face. His head was tilting forward.
“I thought ‘Oh my God, I’ve got to stop him’. I matched his speed then eased my way in front of him and then slowly took my foot off the accelerator.”
He was driving his wife Kirsty and son Joey, seven, to pick up a new kitten in Pontefract, West Yorkshire, and his son in the back screamed as the runaway car behind bumped into them.
“I guess the car behind was going 30mph, he hit my car a couple of times and then we came to a stop,” he said.
Mr Barlow was helped by the tradesman to get into the car, then a first aid refresher course he had recently taken kicked in and he opened the seriously ill driver’s airway by tilting his jaw backwards, at which point the man took in a gasp of air.
Others drivers stopped at the scene, bringing the four-lane carriageway to a halt, and a physio and an off-duty female police officer took over the first aid until paramedics arrived.
Mr Barlow said: “Everyone was amazing, it was a real team effort. They got the man on the floor, then the doctor jumped in as well.”
The next day Mr Barlow received a call from West Yorkshire Police thanking him and he was told the driver had suffered a seizure but was well enough to go home.
Mr Barlow’s car was not badly damaged in the impact and he was able to continue the journey to get Joey his kitten.
He hoped to meet the man he saved in the future, saying: “I’d shake his hand and give him a hug.”
And he asked for people to think about taking a first aid course and having something in their car that could be used to break a window in an emergency.
