“We’re proud of Alex and his quick thinking and we’re pleased the child is safe and well.”
Alex Campbell, 24, works for Dowse Haulage, near Brigg(Image: Supplied)
A lorry driver’s quick thinking helped get a child to safety after they were seen on the motorway. Alex Campbell, 24, was driving on the M180 towards Scunthorpe on Thursday at around 3.30pm when he spotted what looked like a person at the side of the road.
Alex, who works for Dowse Haulage, near Brigg, said he was surprised because there was no sign of a broken-down vehicle. “Suddenly that person was running across into lane one and onto the hard shoulder, zig-zagging, and me and this other truck driver had to swerve out of the way,” he said.
To his shock, Alex realised the person dangerously near the fast-moving traffic was actually a young child. Pulling over onto the hard shoulder, he got out of his cab.
Alex tried to call out to the child, “Get away from the road”. The youngster started to run away, so Alex said he “slowly jogged” closer to try and avoid panicking them further.
When the child turned their back, Alex said he “ran at full speed” and caught the child by the coat, because he was fearful they would run into the lane again.
He said he thought it might look “dodgy” to passers by, but said if the child had run into the road again and got hit he wouldn’t have been able to forgive himself”
Alex said he told the youngster, “Calm down it’s alright, you’re not in trouble and I’m not here to hurt you”, but they appeared very frightened and were “crying and crying”.
He gave the child his phone in an effort to try and calm him down, which he said helped. Another driver then pulled in and Alex asked him to call the police and gave them a What3words code so they could locate the scene.
Alex said: “Once the police arrived, they asked for my name and took the child and let me go on my way. About five hours later, I rang 101 and asked if they could let me know if the child got home safe and was all alright.”
He said he learned the child had got lost and ended up on the motorway and panicked, but was safely returned to their family.
Jen Dowse, Transport Manager at Dowse Haulage, said: “We’re proud of Alex and his quick thinking and we’re pleased the child is safe and well.”
Did you know you can make Hull Live a preferred source of Hull news in Google, which will mean you get more of our breaking news, exclusives, and must-read stories straight away? Here’s more information about what this means and how to do it – you can also do it straight away by clicking here.