7:10am Friday 10th July 2009
A CYCLIST was flown to hospital by the Essex Air Ambulance after a horrific crash in London Road, Westcliff.
He was airlifted to Queens Hospital in Romford with suspected head injuries after the accident, near the junction with Hamlet Court Road.
The chopper had to land in the grounds of St Helen's Catholic Primary School, in North Road, Westcliff.
Paramedics jumped out and worked on the 37-year-old, who had come off his mountain bike near the junction with Hamlet Court Road.
Roofer Scott Layzell had been working on a building nearby and saw the helicopter land at the school.
He said: “They put him on to the grass on the field and worked on him for a good 20 minutes to half an hour. They cut his jeans off and were putting tubes into him.”
The man had been involved in a crash with a Volvo estate and a Mercedes lorry at about 11.50am yesterday.
Aircrew paramedic Laurie Phillipson said: “The patient had come off his mountain bike. He complained of back, hip and elbow pain and was suffering reduced levels of consciousness.
“Because of the difficulty in landing in the area, staff at nearby St Helen’s School kindly offered the playing field as a suitable landing site.
“The land crew were then able to bring the patient to the helicopter and, because of the signs the patient was showing, he was flown to the hospital in Romford, which specialises in head trauma cases.”
Anyone with information about the crash is asked to call PC Mark Philips at Rayleigh Road Policing Unit on 0300 333 4444.
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