‘Heroic’ David Lalgee was killed when an HGV smashed through the central reservation on the M60 near Manchester – the 64-year-old’s final act saved his wife’s life
A grandad has been praised for his “heroic” final act that saved his wife’s life before he was killed by a runaway lorry.
Church minister David Lalgee was killed when an HGV ploughed through the central reservation on the M60 near Manchester on Thursday and smashed into his car.
In the seconds before the crash, the 64-year-old braked and swerved to ensure his side of the Volkswagen iD5 car would take the brunt of the impact, thereby protecting his wife, Jo. Police believe the crash was caused by the lorry driver losing control of his vehicle. Now, his grieving wife has paid tribute to her husband – and said that he “sacrificed his life to save mine”.
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Jo told the MailOnline: “It was a miracle that I walked away from the accident, he did everything he could to stop the lorry from hitting me. He sacrificed his life to save mine and I’ll be forever grateful to him for that.
“When we saw the lorry break through the central reservation, David knew exactly what was going to happen. He said to me; ‘Ok, here we go’. He manoeuvred the car so that he took the full impact of the lorry.”
After being hit the lorry, the car rolled several times along the motorway, she said, before coming to a halt. Initially, she thought the two of them had emerged largely unscathed – but when she turned around to look at her husband, he had blood gushing from his head.
Jo suffered only “a couple of broken ribs”. She said “doctors did everything they could” for David, but they could not save him. Mr Laglee was a pastor at Church Alive in Blackpool, having founded the evangelical church in 1999.
David’s son-in-law, Reuben, has set up a Gofundme page to help pay towards funeral costs. The family have so far raised around £900 of a £4,000 target.
In a moving tribute, Reuben wrote on the page: “On Thursday 20th March our hearts were shattered into a thousand pieces as we lost David to a tragic road traffic accident on the M60 motorway, as appeared on national news. David was a strong, loving and devoted husband, son, father, grandfather, brother and pastor, and was deeply loved by so many.
“David’s last moments on earth were spent how he so often lived, protecting the ones he loved, and because of his heroics on the night, nobody else lost their life. I have set up this gofundme on behalf of the whole family to ease the financial burden of a funeral at this difficult and heartbreaking time. If you are willing or able to give, any donations would be incredibly appreciated.”
A statement from Greater Manchester Police on Friday said: “Officers are investigating following a fatal collision on the M60 in Salford last night (Thursday 20 March), which also left several people injured. At around 7pm, emergency services responded to reports of a road traffic collision anti-clockwise between junction 15 and 16, involving a heavy goods vehicle.
“It is believed that the vehicle, a HGV with a white cab and blue trailer, had been travelling on the M60 when the vehicle lost control and collided into two vehicles. It then crossed into the opposing carriageway and collided with a further two vehicles, before coming to rest on the verge.
“Sadly, the driver of one of the vehicles, a man in his 60s, died as a result of injuries from the collision. A woman in her 20s suffered serious injuries not believed to be life-threatening, while several other people sustained minor injuries. No arrests have been made.”