National honours for police who tried to save teenagers in fatal crash
Ten police officers who attempted to save four teenagers who were killed in a crash have been awarded national honours.
Joshua Parkes, Lucy Tibbetts and Isabelle Floyd were pronounced dead at the scene after a Skoda Fabia crashed into a tree in Bromley Lane, Kingswinford, at about 8.50pm on October 13 last year.
Front seat passenger Nathan Cartwright died from his injuries at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham four days later.
A teenage girl, aged 16 at the time, was the only survivor of the crash.
After arriving on the scene, police officers immediately started administering cardiac pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) on the teenagers. Defibrillators were also used, along with administration of oxygen.
The ten officers have now all been awarded resuscitation certificates by the Royal Humane Society for their desperate fight to help the teenagers.
The officers include PCs Dan Aherne, Daniel Bluck, Steven Dunn, Dale Curtis, Neville Fennel, Lee Martin, Mike Meredith, Stuart Ward and Josh Wildig, as well as one officer who cannot be named.
Praising their efforts, Andrew Chapman, secretary of the Royal Humane Society, said: "To say this accident was horrific would be an understatement.
"But the officers confronted with it fought as a team to save the three girls and cared for the semi-conscious boy who died in hospital later.
“They did all they possibly could have done. Sadly four of the youngsters did not survive but thanks to their efforts the one girl did.
"No-one could have done more than they did to try and save them.”
Following the deaths of the four teenagers, dozens of photos, flowers, cards and other tributes were left at the scene of the crash and hundreds of balloons were released in memory of the victims at Dell Stadium in Brierley Hill.
In a statement, Isabelle Floyd's family paid an emotional tribute to her – saying she “will live on in all our hearts”.
They added that she “was so loved, cherished and adored” by many of her friends and family.
A tribute from the family of Lucy Tibbetts said: "Our beautiful baby has been taken from us. You were an inspiration Lulu, you made us smile [as] you yourself found it so hard to – not just a daughter, a true friend.”
Josh’s family said in a statement: “The whole family are devastated at the loss of lives. Our thoughts are with the other families involved at this dreadful time.”
Nathan’s mother paid tribute to her son, saying: “My gorgeous boy Nath taken way too soon. You lived your short life to the full.”
The Independent Office for Police Conduct launched an investigation into the level of involvement of West Midlands Police after the force said the Skoda had come to the attention of officers before the crash happened.
West Midlands Police, which is conducting its own investigation, said the police car wasn’t in the “immediate vicinity” of the Skoda at the point of collision.
