A Good Samaritan who helped a family after their car flipped on a country road says she was amazed they escaped serious injury.

Niki Iveson , 37, was driving to Watchtree Nature Reserve when she came across the overturned Ford Focus on the B5307 near Thurstonfield, a few miles west of Carlisle.

The car’s 27-year-old woman driver had already got herself and her two children, aged eight and three, out of the overturned Ford.

A qualified first aider, Niki – in the car with her 13-year-old daughter Bethany – checked over the two children from the car while her husband Kevin, also 37, who had been cycling to Watchtree behind their car, warned other motorists.

An ambulance arrived after 10 minutes.

Remarkably, neither the mother nor her two children appear to have been badly injured in the dramatic 10am crash on Saturday.

Commenting on the lack of serious injuries, Niki, a scout leader who works as a community champion for Asda in Carlisle, said: “I was amazed.

“The mother had been able to get the children out.

“She was just thankful that they’d had their seatbelts on.

“She described how after the crash they were left hanging there. The boy was in a proper car seat and the girl had a booster seat. I checked them and they were talking okay.

“There was concern about the girl’s arm so we put it in a sling.”


Niki Iveson Niki said she had completed a first aid booster course just two weeks ago, though she qualified eight years ago. She always carries a first aid pack in her car and she also does first aid through work.

She said: “I’d urge anybody to learn simple first aid.

“You never know when you’ll need it. This is the first time I’ve ever needed it for a road accident.”

She was also impressed, she said, at how well the crashed Ford Focus had withstood the crash.

Despite the car flipping, the Ford’s roof remained structurally intact.

The road was closed for more than two hours as emergency crews attended the scene and organised the recovery of the Ford Focus. Police at the scene also expressed surprise that nobody was seriously hurt.

The woman who was driving the Ford Focus and her children were taken by ambulance to The Cumberland Infirmary but police confirmed that they were not seriously hurt.