Car crash in Sandling Road, Maidstone: woman praised by witness for amazing care

A man has praised the efforts of a member of the public who stepped in to give “amazing” emergency care after a crash at a busy roundabout.

Jonathan Cornish was driving his car in Maidstone when he saw a vehicle had crashed through railings into a tree.

The accident was in Sandling Road and Lower Boxley Road in Maidstone this afternoon (June 15)

The accident happened at the roundabout at the junction of Sandling Road and Lower Boxley Road in Maidstone this afternoon (June 15).

Police attended the incident near Stacey’s Street at around 2.40pm and say a man was taken to hospital.

The road, which was closed during the response to the incident, reopened at around 5pm.

Jonathan, from Maidstone, was the second person on the scene and found a woman giving chest compressions to the driver of the vehicle.

After pulling his vehicle over, Jonathan responded to the woman’s plea for a defibrillator and ran to the nearest defibrillator point by KFC.

The car crashed through railings into a tree on a busy roundabout

Speaking of the incident he said: “The lady giving chest impressions was amazing – and if he survives, she will be instrumental in saving his life.

“Whoever she was, he is very lucky that she was there - even when I came back from getting the defibrillator and there were ambulance personnel around helping, she was still giving chest compressions even then.”

By the time Jonathan returned with the defibrillator he says paramedics and police had arrived and commended them on their “outstanding care”.

He added: “The care the paramedics were giving on the side of the road was absolutely outstanding and really impressive.

“It’s a tough time for a lot of public service personnel but they were amazing.

The roundabout was closed with police and paramedics in attendance

“They turned up, they delivered, and it was highly professional and really good.”

Jonathan, who was on his way to see some relatives when he came across the accident, got in touch to acknowledge the hard work of both the woman and the emergency services who attended.

A Kent Police spokesperson said: “Kent Police was called to a report a car had left the road near Staceys Street, Maidstone, at 2.40pm.

“Emergency services attended and a man was taken to a local hospital.

“The road was closed while the incident was responded to and reopened at around 5pm.”

The ambulance service has also been contacted for a comment.