West Sussex village collision: Man remains in 'serious condition'

Police officers were called to a report of a Ford Fiesta ‘hitting a parked car’ on Chartwell Road in Lancing shortly after 6.30am last Wednesday morning (May 29).

A 55-year-old man, the driver of the Ford, was taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries, police said.

In an update on Tuesday, June 4, police said the man remains in hospital ‘in a serious condition’.

The collision happened at Lancing Business Park (LBP) – which issued a statement on its website on Friday.

This confirmed that the victim was an LBP employee and ‘help was immediately on hand’ in the aftermath of the incident.

A spokesperson said: “Opposite in the loading bay was an L&S Waste Management HGV and a learner driver with their tutor, and seconds after the crash Mike Nea of CJS Landscapes arrived on the scene.

"All parties immediately jumped into action, with the L&S Driver alerting the emergency services, whilst Mike called for help from Paula Rosa Manhattan.

“Six employees from Paula Rosa Manhattan came running with their defibrillator in hand.”

The first responders worked together to enable Chris Chapman and Ryan Greenland, first aiders at Paula Rosa Manhattan, to administer the defibrillator and CPR.

A spokesperson added: “Due to the early hour, there was no traffic to delay the emergency services, who arrived in numbers within minutes to take over the scene.

“The driver was later rushed to hospital, but due to the action of all these wonderful people, the driver was thankfully breathing.

“The driver is currently still in critical condition and our best wishes go to driver, their family and colleagues. We so hope that the driver's luck continues and we hear good news very soon.

“LBP would like to thank everyone who supported the driver to give them best chance possible. Without your action this would be a very different report.”

LBP said it was ‘very grateful’ to the police for their ‘continued presence’ on the business park, until the one-way system was reopened at lunchtime.

The statement continued: “Thank you to everyone who adjusted their travel plans on Wednesday and those who waited patiently whilst we redirected traffic.

“Amazingly, this is not the first emergency incident that Chris Chapman has supported. A few months back, Chris was called to a colleague who had a heart attack at work.

“LBP has a network of 17 defibrillators across the park for exactly these situations and are so grateful to support of LBP businesses, in sharing their resources for public access.

“To view the defibrillator map please click here.

“We can't finish without sharing the following training just in case it helps support someone else in need. The British Heart Foundation offers the following free and clear online training:

“Learn how to do CPR in 15 minutes – please click here.

”Understanding defibrillators – what they are and how to use them – please click here.”