PARAMEDICS have praised a quick-thinking lifeguard who helped a seriously injured pensioner following a car smash in Times Territory. Matt Roberts, from Moffats Lane, Brookmans Park, was one of the first to arrive at the scene of last month's accident, in

PARAMEDICS have praised a quick-thinking lifeguard who helped a seriously injured pensioner following a car smash in Times Territory.

Matt Roberts, from Moffats Lane, Brookmans Park, was one of the first to arrive at the scene of last month's accident, involving a red Citroen Picasso and a white Ford Transit van, on the A1000 Great North Road near the Swanley Bar junction.

Matt, 23, checked over the van driver before giving first aid to a man in his 70s who was trapped in the Citroen.

The emergency services soon arrived and the pensioner was airlifted to hospital in London, where he remains in a critical, but stable condition.

Gary Sanderson manager for the East of England Ambulance Service, said: "The quick thinking and actions of Matt enabled our emergency operations centre in Bedford to allocate the appropriate resources to the scene.

"He also gave a precise update about the extent of the patients' injuries, which was really helpful for the responding crews."

When asked if he felt he had helped save the pensioner's life, a modest Matt, who works at a leisure centre in Borehamwood said: "I would like to think so.

"The ambulance crews seemed to think that that was the case."

For more on this story, see this week's edition of the Welwyn & Hatfield Times.