Passing motorists stopped to lift car off cyclist after collision

Eight people – including a builder known as Rambo – lifted a car off a cyclist in Woodford Green last weekend. The man was hospitalised, but his injuries are not thought to be life-threatening.

The Ilford Recorder reports that one of those involved, Theresa O’Sullivan, was on her way to the tip when she saw a crushed GT road bike lying in the middle of Charlie Brown's roundabout at the southern end of the M11.

Another car was stopped 10 metres away and O’Sullivan said that the driver was screaming because the cyclist was trapped underneath.

“The cyclist was calling out but there was no part of his body that was visible, not even a hand or a foot,” she said. “He was completely underneath the car.”

O’Sullivan made efforts to stop other motorists and asked them to help.

One who did so was Dashmir Vakaj, a builder whose nickname is Rambo.

“The first thing that came to my mind was we had to lift the car,” he said. “It was difficult but sometimes, in moments like that, I think God gives you the power because that guy’s life is most important.”

Together Rambo, God, O’Sullivan and six other people successfully lifted the car off the cyclist.

“It was incredible as every single person stopped with care and compassion and found the strength to lift the car,” said O’Sullivan. “The cyclist was terribly injured but alive.”

A bus driver called 999 and emergency services arrived within a minute.

A London Ambulance Service spokesperson said: “We dispatched an ambulance crew, an advanced paramedic practitioner and an incident response officer with the first of our responders arriving within a minute. We also dispatched London’s Air Ambulance.

“We treated a man at the scene for injuries to the face, elbow and leg and took him to a major trauma centre.”

The cyclist’s family later said that he had suffered a collapsed lung, broken ribs, a broken arm, a shattered wrist and smashed front teeth.

The Ilford Recorder did not report how the collision took place.

We’ve reported on people lifting cars off cyclists on a number of previous occasions.

In 2013, in Spitalifields, 10 people flipped a car onto its side to free a cyclist. She had suffered a broken collarbone but said she felt, “pretty lucky.”

In 2018, six passers-by helped emergency services lift a car off cyclist Dan Gray, whose leg had been trapped for 10 minutes.

We’ve also reported on a Brazilian man who lifted and moved a car on his own after the driver parked in a cycle lane.