Two pedestrians were fortunate to escape with their lives in a freak car accident at the Green Bridge, Mullingar on last Wednesday morning, 1 February around 11am, when a car coming from Green Road direction went out of control near the bridge, careered straight ahead, and crashed into the strong stone wall beside the Canal bridge, but somehow stopped before plunging into the yardway 8 feet beneath, sending blocks of stone cascading down.
The spectacular accident occurred, it appears, because the elderly car driver became suddenly ill, and lost control. Fortunately, for him, and for the two pedestrians, the car struck the way a split second before they reached the spot, otherwise, they would probably have been driven into the wall, and the yard.
The driver of the car, a local man, was removed by ambulance to the Mullingar Regional Hospital and we understand at time of going to press that he has been discharged from a Dublin hospital. He is now home and is thankfully recovering.
Teresa McCarthy of St. Anthony’s Cottages, Mullingar was one of the two lucky pedestrians who escaped by a fraction of a second from what would have been a horrific collision. She explained to Westmeath Topic: “I was walking down from my home on Wednesday morning, going to meet my carer, Padraig Groome at Rochforts, and I was just at the Green Bridge. I hadn’t heard anything, because I had left my hearing aids and phone at home. Suddenly, this car came from nowhere and hit the wall in front of me. I must have been only a few feet away, one step more or less, I’d say.”
“At the time, it all happened so fast, I didn’t actually get a shock, and when the car started filling with smoke, myself and the other man, whom I didn’t know got the driver out, and he was conscious and able to stand up. Someone called the ambulance and the Gardai came.”
“I was very lucky, someone must have been praying for me. It was only afterwards I felt the shock of it all, and I’m not over it yet, but I’m thankful to be alive. I hate to think what would have happened if I was a foot or two further on,” she exclaimed.
Ms. McCarthy said that she was sorry to hear that the driver was still in hospital, but remarked that if the car had gone over the wall, it would have been far worse. “And I could have been down there too, with the car on top of me.”
Footnote: There have been numerous accidents at the Green Bridge, several in recent months, but last week’s mishap could not be blamed on traffic lights, driver error or anything except freak circumstances, outside anyone’s control. Fortunately, the outcome was not fatal.
