She pulled a man in his 50s from his car as his bonnet went up in flames.
An off-duty nurse has been praised for her “selfless” act of rescuing a man from a burning car.
Mags Chineah, a heart failure nurse at Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust, rushed to the aid of a driver following a crash on her way to work – pulling a man in his 50s from his car as his bonnet went up in flames.
Speaking about the incident, Mags said; “I saw a car crash into a sign on a mini-roundabout and could see flames under the bonnet straight away. I was worried it would explode so I jumped out of the car and sprinted over.
“He was in shock so wasn’t moving very fast so I helped pull him out and got him away from the car as quickly as I could. I was completely acting on instinct.”
Luckily, the fire brigade were quickly on the scene of the crash, and once Mags had checked both drivers were okay, she headed into work as the emergency services had arrived.
Selflessness and compassion.
It was by chance Mags was even there, she was being driven to work by her daughter and was running late.
However, it’s not the first time mum-of-three Mags has helped in an emergency, she’s often gone to the aid of people who have collapsed in public, including once on a plane. She added: “It was in ‘99 and I was on a flight with two of my children when they were little.
“A call went out for a nurse or doctor as someone had collapsed so I went to help, in that case it was a simple faint.
“I never panic in an emergency and it doesn’t bother me to run towards a situation. In this case it was the first time I’d sprinted in years – and I think I pulled something!”
The chief nurse at the trust Kathryn Halford, added: “Mags displayed incredible selflessness and compassion when she ran towards danger to help the driver and we are very proud of her.”
