Wigan 'coronavirus' crash man who hit nurse's car dies

Lucy Duncan

Nurse Lucy Duncan stayed with the patient after he had crashed into her car

An elderly driver who was suspected of having coronavirus when he crashed into a nurse's car has died.

The man was "struggling to breathe" when he hit Lucy Duncan's car as she drove home from a Wigan hospital.

Ms Duncan, 24, called an ambulance when she found the man "slumped over the wheel" on Thursday and stayed with him in A&E for five hours.

But earlier she told BBC Breakfast that the man, aged in his 70s, had died and she was now trying to trace his son.

Ms Duncan, who had been returning from her seventh consecutive shift, said the man told her he had been in isolation for more than a week but felt forced to leave his home because he needed to buy food.

"He grabbed my arm and kept apologising, and said he thought he had coronavirus," she said on Friday.

"He was grey and sweating, and struggling to breathe. So I called an ambulance and followed him in my own car, and stayed with him for five hours wearing full PPE.

"I don't think I did anything out of the ordinary but a lot of people have told me they wouldn't have done it."

Before his death, the man told Ms Duncan that he had a son, believed to be in Milton Keynes, whom he had not spoken to for many years.

"He asked me if I would help him get in touch with his son... it is going to be something I am going to try my hardest to do for him," she explained.

The man was "almost surprised when I kept going back to him [in the hospital]".

"His eyes lit up every time I went back and held his hand. It was amazing to be part of his life."

Ms Duncan is now having to self-isolate in case she develops symptoms, with her family moving out of the house.

"It's a bit difficult at the moment because I am on my own and the first thing I wanted was a hug off my family after the night that I had," she said.

"But I suppose as a nurse, we're strong people and we learn to get through it."

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