Motorcyclist thanks off-duty firefighter who assisted him after Carrickfergus collision
A young motorcyclist who suffered multiple injuries after a road traffic collision near Carrickfergus earlier this year has thanked the off-duty firefighter who assisted him at the scene.
Coleraine man Dawid Ostrowski was travelling home from work on the afternoon of May 31, 2024 when his vehicle was involved in a collision with a car on the Watch Hill Road.
Dawid was left with severe injuries, including two broken legs, a broken arm, and a shattered pelvis.
Warren Logan, an on-call (part-time) firefighter with Carrickfergus Fire Station, was travelling along the route at the same time. “Myself and my wife were heading to the caravan park when we came round the corner and saw this young man lying in the middle of road,” recalled Warren, who works as an aftersales engineer.
Although off-duty at the time, Warren immediately asked a bystander to call an ambulance as he tended to the injured man. “We [on-call firefighters] are trained in advanced first response and first aid, so instinct just kicked in,” he added. “The training helps you to keep your cool in an incident like that.”
Meanwhile, Dawid said he has no memory of the collision itself. “I just remember waking up in a lot of pain and seeing Warren beside me,” he added. “I asked him to call my mum and let her know what happened.”
After spending a month in hospital where he underwent several operations, Dawid continues to receive physiotherapy months later. “But I’m still here and I’m glad Warren was there after it happened,” he said.
The Coleraine man visited Carrickfergus Fire Station on September 1 to express his gratitude to Warren in person. “When we’re on duty, we don’t always know the outcome for the casualty after they’re taken by the ambulance, so it was really good to meet Dawid again and see how he was doing,” Warren added.
Meanwhile, a full-time firefighter from east Antrim has been praised after putting his training into practice while on holiday to rescue a young girl from a fast-flowing river in the Yorkshire Dales.
Arnold Stewart, who is based at Carnlough Fire Station, was holidaying in the north of England when he noticed an emergency situation unfolding and was able to step in and help save the life of a girl.