I called my boss & yelled ‘don’t worry I’m not dead’ from my stretcher after horror road smash, reveals TV’s Dan Walker
ROAD-smash telly favourite Dan Walker has told how he got a paramedic to phone his boss so that he could shout from his stretcher: “Don’t worry — I’m not dead!”
The Channel 5 presenter said he was out cold for 25 minutes after being knocked off his electric bike on a busy roundabout as he headed for work.
Once he came round, he introduced himself to medics Dan and Shaun and asked them to ring boss Cait FitzSimons.
Ex-Strictly star Dan, 45, told The Sunday Times: “He introduced himself to her as a paramedic and I shouted, ‘Don’t worry — I’m not dead!’ from the stretcher.”
Dan was riding to a railway station when he was struck by a car in Sheffield on Monday.
It was all filmed by the rear-view camera of a car in front.
Dan suffered cuts and bruises to his face but escaped serious injury and was taken home by wife Sarah the same day.
Recalling the accident, he explained: “There are four lanes on the roundabout. If the left-hand lane is lane one, I positioned myself where I normally go, on the left-hand side of lane three — one of the two lanes that enables you to turn right.
“I looked to my right and waited for a gap. I saw a gap, I set off — and that is the last thing that I remember.
“All of a sudden, in my head, I was cycling along a tree-lined French country road.
“I was on one of those classic bikes with a basket on the front and it was full of baguettes and croissants. There was jam.
“The picture-perfect scene was ruined by a flash of black.
“I could see myself watching the black screen and I looked as a tiny white hole appeared in the middle of it and slowly got bigger until I could see two faces looking down on me.
“They were wearing green paramedic outfits. Another face appeared at the top of the picture. He was wearing a hi-viz police jacket and next to him was a fourth face — that of a very concerned driver.”
Dan, who moved to Channel 5 from BBC Breakfast last June, said the accident triggered clashes online.
He added: “There were motorists angry that I was on the road at all, angry that I was on ‘their roundabout’ and even upset that the driver hadn’t ‘finished the job’.”
The car driver who filmed it said: “I looked in my mirror and saw him roll across the road after he’d been hit.
“It was quite shocking. I checked the footage later and realised I had captured the moment. He’s lucky to be alive.”