A BARROW pensioner has praised a Good Samaritan who saved his leg.

Jimmy Armstrong, who uses a mobility scooter, was left needing hospital treatment after the freak accident which led to his leg being gashed open on Saturday. 


Mr Armstrong said: “I’d been taking some photos down Channelside for my friend in the States.


“I didn’t see the bench with the sun in my eyes, then I tried to swerve to avoid it and ended up running my leg right down the sharp edge of the bench which sliced my leg wide open.


“I shouted a woman over for help and she called an ambulance for me because I was bleeding quite a lot.


“A few people came over to help me, one was a chap who took his shirt off to wrap my leg until the ambulance arrived, I sadly didn’t get his name.”


The shirtless man didn’t wish to be identified. 


He took his shirt off and sat alongside Mr Armstrong while paramedics arrived. 


Wayne Jackson, who passed by the scene shortly before the ambulance arrived, publicised the stranger’s good deed on Facebook after realising how much worse things could have been. 


Mr Jackson said: “I’m walking down the street and I see this chap with his shirt off and I wonder what’s going on.


“Jimmy was a lovely bloke and if it weren’t for this guy getting his shirt off and wrapping the wound, poor Jimmy might have lost his leg.


“I’d warn anyone about riding down there as the benches were really sharp.”


Luckily Mr Armstrong was tended to by paramedics before being taken to Furness General Hospital for an overnight stay.


He was taken into theatre on Sunday to allow surgeons to repair his injured leg. 


Councillor Keith Little, Cumbria County Council’s cabinet spokesperson for highways and transport, has been made aware of the incident.


He said: “Until we can be 100 per cent sure on whether these benches are under the county council’s or borough council’s jurisdiction, we can only extend our apologies to Mr Armstrong for his injuries.


“Now whether the sharp edges are a design flaw or due to damage will inform our decision over what must be done.


“If it turns out to be a design issue then we may be looking multiple benches that need repairs or replacement.”


Mr Armstrong said he was quite lucky to have made it away from the incident without losing his leg.


Due to the size and severity of his wound he believes he could have lost his limb or even bled to death if it wasn’t for the passing Barrow public who stepped in to assist him. 


He thanked everyone who helped him over social media, and said: “I would like to thank the people who helped me this morning near Channelside.
“I am okay apart from a nasty leg injury; without these people helping I would have had serious problems.”