Devizes cabbie tells of his shock
7:00am Friday 24th December 2010
The taxi driver involved in an incident in which Devizes bricklayer Lee Barber was seriously injured has spoken of his shock at what happened.
Ken Waller, 63, who has driven cabs in the area for about 30 years, said 33-year-old Mr Barber fell into the path of his Nissan taxi during the early hours of Sunday December 12.
He says he did not knock down the bricklayer.
Mr Waller said: “It was a huge shock. I had just pulled away from the Pelican with seven passengers and he was just there. I couldn’t have been doing more than ten or 15mph.
“I heard the bump as my rear wheel clipped him.
“But the paramedics and police said the damage was done to him when he fell and hit his head on the road.
“He wasn’t crossing the road, as he was said to be doing. He just fell in the road in front of me.
“No one at the scene blamed me. They all said it was not my fault and there was nothing I could have done.
“But the police impounded my taxi for two days and I had to pay £150 to get it out, though they have now refunded the money. I am still in a state of shock and I have lost business.
“My heart goes out to the young man’s family. I hope he is on the mend.”
Mr Barber, of Rotherstone, Devizes, a bricklayer employed by Devizes building firm Gaiger Brothers, was out with friends when he fell in the street at around 2.20am.
He was flown by air ambulance to Frenchay Hospital in Bristol, which has a specialist brain injury unit.
His parents, Brian and Suzanne, who are keeping vigil at his bedside, say that, despite remaining in intensive care, Mr Barber is showing signs of recovery.
His father, Brian, said: “His sedation has been withdrawn so he should be coming out of his coma any time now. They have removed his ventilator and he is now breathing through a tracheotomy.
“Although he can’t talk yet, he has kicked one of his legs, blinked, and squeezed his mother’s hand. He is still very poorly, but he is on the road to recovery.”
Source; http://www.thisiswiltshire.co.uk/news/8 ... his_shock/
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