Tragic accident claims life of vet (From Western Telegraph)

Tragic accident claims life of vet

Two St John Ambulance volunteers comforted a vet as he lay seriously injured after a tragic accident at his Pembrokeshire farm.

Father-of-five Huw Williams, who died from his injuries on Monday, is understood to have been trimming a tree at Moat Village Farm, New Moat, on Saturday when he fell from the bucket of a telescopic handler. The machine is also believed to have overturned. His family alerted the emergency services, but first on the scene was a crew from the St John Ambulance.

West Wales regional duty officer Keith McNiffe and crew member, Diane Rogers, were on their way to an army cadet exercise on the Preseli hills when they heard the emergency call on their ambulance radio.

They were just a mile-and-a-half from New Moat and were on the scene within minutes. "We were able to give Mr Williams oxygen therapy until the paramedics arrived,'' explained Mr McNiffe. "We also cleared the lane so that the ambulance could get through,'' said Mr McNiffe.

Mr Williams, who was 49, died at Morriston Hospital. The Health and Safety Executive has launched an investigation into how the accident happened.

Mr Williams and his wife, Judy, both worked as Government vets and had previously run a dairy herd at New Moat Village Farm. He had played a key role in containing the foot and mouth outbreak.

The couple have five children and two of their daughters, Megan and Eleanor, are pupils at Ysgol Y Preseli, Crymych.

* The role the St John Ambulance played in responding to Saturday's accident is particularly relevant because the Pembrokeshire branch is facing a serious funding and volunteer crisis. It no longer receives the same level of support and donations from the public and has had to halve its number of ambulances.