Two of those injured in a crash on the A40 just days before Christmas are making a slow recovery but are grateful for the swift response they received from the emergency services and the support from people at the scene.

On December 22nd, at 11.30am the ambulance service received a call to the A40 near Ross-on-Wye. There had been a four car collision at the Labels roundabout and there were five patients in total.

An ambulance and a Community First Responder car, as well as a paramedic officer and the Midlands Air Ambulance responded to the call.

A spokesperson for West Midlands Ambulance Service told the Ross Gazette that everyone involved had minor injuries but one man and a second patient were taken to hospital for further checks, the others were discharged at the scene.

One of the couples involved asked their granddaughter, Marie Tucker to post an update about the incident on the Ross Notice Board group on Facebook to let those who had been delayed by the incident know how grateful they were for the assistance they had been given.

The post said: “My grandparents were the ones that got hit on Saturday by Labels, they would like me to post on their behalf, ‘Our grateful thanks to all the services that attended the accident on Saturday, December 22nd by Labels island, particularly Tom, the paramedic, Simon (a witness at the scene) the lady who gave me a big kiss. I liked that, and the wonderful doctors and staff at Hereford General Hospital A and E Dept, Our grateful thanks, Nigel and Gillian.’

Nigel and Gillian Bailey are both 79. They are still very sore and struggling with day to day tasks, Marie told the Ross Gazette that her Grandpa has back and neck ligament injuries and they are both suffering with their ribs and have lots of bruising, but hope to make a good recovery.

Among those who helped at the scene was the Community First Responders from Ross-on-Wye. A reply was sent to their tweet on Twitter regarding the incident that the person was surprised to see a CFR at a road traffic collision. The CFR replied: “We have been provided with training from the Trust, ( West Midlands Ambulance Service University NHS Foundation Trust) enabling us to be safe responding to RTCs, and only in CFR marked vehicles. No blue lights/siren but can proceed if safe and able to get there. We also have recently done joint training with the local FRS. (Fire and Rescue Service).”

They later added that this had been very valuable.

Traffic was held up for several hours while the emergency services dealt with the incident.