Mark Le Sage had to give up his career as a nurse due to injuries sustained in the crash which happened hours after former Casualty actress Amanda Mealing had taken cocaine
The dad who was knocked unconscious when Casualty actress Amanda Mealing ploughed into his car while high on cocaine considers himself lucky to be alive.
Mark Le Sage, 58, was seriously injured after Mealing careered her Mini into the man’s oncoming Skoda. A court heard Mealing, 57, was dealing with the traumatic deaths of her father, her best friend and her dog when she took the Class A drug the night before the smash. Mr Le Sage, who had to give up his career as a theatre nurse due to his injuries, believes the outcome could have been far worse had he not been driving such a powerful car. The 1.6ton Skoda Kodiaq is the firm’s largest SUV.
But the father of three nearly drove his motorbike instead on January 26 last year – and last night expressed his huge relief he chose the large SUV. He spoke to the media after Mealing admitted to driving under the influence of cocaine and driving without due care and attention, appearing in court under her married name of Amanda Sainsbury. The actress has been banned from driving for 22 months and orders to pay £485 in fines.
READ MORE: Casualty star Amanda Mealing admits being high on cocaine when she crashed car into nurse
Speaking after the hearing at Boston Magistrates’ Court, Mr Le Sage, who has five grandchildren, said: “I was very lucky I was in such a substantial car, I very nearly took my motorbike out that day.
“I just came around the corner and ‘bang’ it was right in front of me and she hit the front corner of my car… My right foot was trapped under the pedal but I thought the car was on fire and I was just desperate to get out. I think the adrenalin kicked in and I was able to free myself. The driver’s side of the car was bashed but I got out myself out of the passenger side and fell into the road… I’m very lucky. The fire brigade told me afterwards that If I was in a smaller vehicle it might’ve been a different story.”
The smash happened at 10.14am on January 26 last year, just yards away from Mealing’s front door in Deeping St Nicholas, Lincolnshire. The actress, known for her role as cardio thoracic consultant Connie Beauchamp in Casualty, sustained a head cut, a broken wrist and a broken clavicle.
The court heard mum-of-two Mealing had 18mcg of cocaine in her blood, with the legal limit being 10mcg. Mealing was also in excess of 240mcg of benzoylecgonine, which is the chemical that cocaine leaves after being metabolised in the body. This is almost five times over the legal limit of 50mcg.
Incredibly, once free from the wreckage, Mr Le Sage’s thoughts turned to helping the woman who had caused the crash. He told the Daily Mail: “I looked over and saw she had blood running down the left side of her face… Luckly, there was an off-duty firefighter following my car and he had pulled over to give her first aid. I think my nursing instincts kicked in – I went over to see her. She was still sat in her car. I had to make sure she was OK.”
Mr Le Sage, who is now a councillor, was assessed by paramedics and advised to attend hospital, but the ambulance which had been allocated to him was diverted to another emergency so he was asked to make his own way to accident and emergency to be checked over, it is said. Mealing was taken to hospital by another ambulance, while an air ambulance had also attended, it is understood.
Mr Le Sage told prosecutor Marie Stace on Friday that he did not wish to see Mealing jailed over the collision. Mealing’s lawyer said the actress is “deeply ashamed” of the offences, and referenced the woman’s personal tragedy of losing her 32-year-old brother to substance abuse.
In an interview with The Times in 2021, Mealing said of her adoptive brother: “He was 14 years older than me, but we were incredibly close… I think he had dabbled in drugs as a teenager. But it was just an accident. It was a real tragedy for everyone and, yes, it did influence me. It reminded me that life can be short and I thought there’s no point sitting around. Go out and live each day.”
