Paramedic Jay Vernon, 34, believed he was in the middle of a terrorist attack as lunatic Paul Doyle deliberately drove through the crowds at the Liverpool victory parade
A brave paramedic who was knocked into the gutter by Paul Doyle’s car has told how the “adrenaline kicked in” as he jumped back to his feet to begin treating the injured.
Jay Vernon, 34, believed he was in the middle of a terrorist attack as lunatic Doyle deliberately drove through the crowds at the Liverpool victory parade. In total 134 people were injured – including babies, children and the elderly – as fans packed Liverpool city centre to celebrate the Premier League victory on May 26.
Jay spoke about the carnage he faced as Doyle, 54, is due back in court today to be sentenced. He pleaded guilty to 31 offences including 17 counts of attempting to cause grievous bodily harm and nine of causing grievous bodily harm with intent.
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Jay was on duty as a cycle response paramedic for North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) when he was called to a reported cardiac arrest on Water Street, just after the parade had ended.
He was making his way on foot in front of an ambulance when he was hit from behind by Doyle’s car. As he lay in the gutter he saw Doyle’s reverse lights come on and he had to dive out of the way to avoid being hit again.
He said: “I was struck with almighty force from behind, which has then sent me flying over to the right hand side, and I landed in the gutter on Water Street. I’ve put my hands out to brace myself, as you normally would and then as I’ve been in the gutter, there was a number of people around me and on the floor.
“As I’ve looked left, I’ve seen a car. I’ve then seen the car reverse lights come on and it start heading back up towards Water Street. It was at that point in my mind, I immediately thought, ‘I’m in the middle of a terrorist incident’.”
Jay, from Aigburth, Liverpool, said he jumped out of the way of the car as it reversed back at speed and saw the vehicle hit the front of the ambulance and ricochet back into the street.
Luckily, he only suffered grazes in the incident and was able to press the emergency button on his radio sending a signal to all vehicles on the network. He told the dispatcher: “I’ve been struck by a vehicle. I’m on Water Street and there are multiple casualties.”
Despite being hit by the car, Jay began tending to those who were injured around him. As he tended to the victims he saw Doyle’s Ford Galaxy move again.
He said: “It was at that moment in time then that I actually feared for my safety. I obviously had passed some messages via the emergency button, but I felt really vulnerable.”
Jay made his way inside an ambulance to find safety for a brief moment – before opening the door and allowing children inside to keep them out of harm’s way.
He then went back out towards Doyle’s car to provide help: “There were people on the floor. There were pushchairs that, obviously, children have been in, on their side.
“There were bottles of alcohol and stuff all over the floor and a significant amount of people running in every direction imaginable to get away from what I assume they would think was a terrorist incident as well.”
As he headed back down the street the car had come to a stop, but he could see police had opened the boot and were pulling the inside of it apart. He said: “It was at that moment that I stopped and was thinking ‘what am I going down towards here?’”
When he reached the vehicle he quickly continued to triage patients and gave equipment for those who were tending to the injured. He said: “Ultimately, the adrenaline and that desire to help people just kicked in and I think that’s what got me through the majority of the incident.”
Prosecutors have ruled out any suggestion of terrorism and said married father-of-three Doyle ploughed into the crowds in a rage.
The former Royal Marine had denied all the charges against him, only changing his plea to guilty last month minutes before his trial was due to start.
Jay was at home last month on a rest day when he saw a news notification on his watch saying Doyle had pleaded guilty to all offences – which included attempting to cause grievous bodily harm with intent to him. He said it came as a “relief” that he didn’t have to attend court to give evidence.
Among the other paramedics who were first on the scene was Matt Hall, 39, who had also been called to a reported cardiac arrest. He was returning to his ambulance, parked on a side street, after being told the patient had left the area.
Matt heard the alert message over the radio and raced back to Water Street, by which time Doyle’s car had come to a halt. He said: “The driver of the car was gone at that point, and we had several casualties lying around. Most of them at that point were receiving some kind of treatment.”
The injured included people with blunt force trauma injuries, chest injuries, rib fractures and bone fractures. Planning for the parade meant there were ambulances nearby who could get there quickly and police cordoned off the area to create a scene of “relative calmness”, he said.
He said: “I looked calm, I think, but like all of us inside you’re running at a million miles an hour and you’re thinking of lots of potentials and lots of things that you need to do.”
Matt said thanks to his colleagues the response to the major incident ran “efficiently” and “very well”. He said: “I’m sure there are some residual and lasting effects for people, but it’s not the worst case scenario. It could have been a very, very different story.”
