Drink drive victim helps police promote awareness campaign

A YOUNG man who lost a leg after being struck by a drink driver in Lymm is helping Cheshire Police promote their winter drink drive awareness campaign.
Lue Marshall was just 19 when he was struck by a a car being driven by a 40-year-old woman who was more than double the drink driving limit.
Luke was driving in his car with his friend along Higher Lane, Lymm on an evening in July 2012 when they were forced to pull over after driving over debris following a collision where a car had crashed into a wall. The debris punctured his tyres and damaged the bumper. “I went over to the car to check that the driver, a young girl was ok but noticed she was just badly shaken and crying.”
Luke explained: “The guy whose house the car had crashed into came out to see what had happened. I needed to change my wheel and he offered to bring some cones out to pop around my car.” Luke walked back down the road, and the man came to bring out the cones. As this was happening Luke heard tyres screeching around the corner and then three seconds later, he could see a car approaching on the wrong side of the road, and realised that it was going to hit him.
“It seemed like ages, but it was probably only 2-3 seconds in which I had to react”.
“The car was swerving left and right, and just 3m away, I dived onto the wall but my right leg didn’t come with me in time, with the car crushing my leg.” Luke said that he was lying on the wall thinking “I’ve not been hit, it’s missed me” but after looking down at his leg, he realised how badly damaged it was.
By this time, the girl’s mum and dad had turned up, and they were both doctors.The doctor who was a consultant anaesthetist checked Luke’s leg, and after noticing that it was virtually amputated at the scene, applied pressure because it was damaged near the major artery above the knee.
Luke said, “He saved my life; as I was losing a lot of blood but didn’t feel in any pain ? probably because of the shock that I was in.”
The 40 year old drink driver was arrested at the scene and later sentenced through court for dangerous driving and driving with excess alcohol.
Luke lives with his step father and his mum. His mum, Suzanne, is terminally ill with motor neurone disease and has found the last year very emotional because “at the time, I wasn’t able to hold him, I couldn’t comfort him”.
His step father Ian, said “We were shocked and angry, because obviously Suzanne being disabled couldn’t do anything. When we got the phone call that night, I had to lift Suzanne into the car. We were trying to get down to the scene of the collision, but couldn’t get to him and we didn’t know how bad he was. Suzanne was shaking all the way there and she couldn’t get out of the car because of her disability. We saw them putting him on the stretcher so we thought he must be alright and then we went straight to the hospital.”
Luke was in intensive care for a short while and “was devastated when I woke up in hospital and saw that I didn’t have a leg but just thought that I had to get on with it, no point moaning about it, it’s not going to grow back.”
Only three months after coming out of hospital, Luke had arranged an adapted car courtesy of Motability and was fitted with a prosthetic limb.
“I had to learn to walk again, and especially putting your leg on is weird. Trying to walk on it was a strange experience.”
Before that life changing night, Luke was quite active and had made plans for his future.
“I had just passed my plumbing course and had my visa for Australia ready to go, but that’s all been put on hold.”
Luke added: “It has changed my life in simple ways, I used to love a good kick about and went mountain biking with my mates. I can’t do what I want to do, I can’t do my plumbing now.
“I may go out and service gas boilers, so that I don’t have to kneel on the floor. British Gas do take on disabled people so hopefully there will be an opening there.”
Family Liaison Officer Cath Hilton was on the scene the following day and supported the family through to the final verdict at court.
“Obviously the family had a rollercoaster of emotions but they are a close and supportive family and welcomed me into their lives. They have dealt with this in a dignified manner and are a credit to themselves.”
The family said of that day, “We couldn’t fault the emergency services at all, the help and information they provided.”
Luke, now 21, has a girlfriend now and is slowly trying to turn his life around. He was traumatised by the whole ordeal, as was the rest of his family, and it will take a series of stepping stones before he will be back to a normal way of life.
Meanwhile Cheshire Police are tweeting out drink drive messages through December which can be followed @cheshirepolice.