First-aider Bradley Ford was one of the first people to reach the crash site where a double decker bus containing 71 individuals fell 40 feet down an embankment. Just three days earlier Mr Bradley had completed a St John's Ambulance first air course. He used hand signals to communicate with the bus passengers, who were
migrant workers from a fruit farm in Peterborough who had enjoyed a
day out at Alton Towers. Bradley commented "to be comforting someone who is alive only for them to be dead
two seconds later is something not many people will ever have to
experience. In those circumstances, every little thing makes a big difference and the paramedics told us how much we had helped. It is horrible to think how much more serious it might have been. The
things that I saw that evening have given me a completely different
outlook on life. Now, every day I give thanks for my life, nature and
my parents. My
ultimate ambition is to become a policeman and that is one of the
reasons I joined St John Ambulance – it was just incredibly lucky that
I was fresh out of training. When I was working with the casualties, the last thing I was thinking about was that I would be thrown into the limelight." Princess Anne recognised his efforts at a young achievers awards ceremony at Buckingham Palace.
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