Injured fireman warns of the dangers of drink-fuelled benders
Dec 27 2011 By Charlotte Thomson, Daily Record
A FIREFIGHTER left bruised and battered when he was knocked down on a boozy night out warned yesterday: “Don’t end up like me.” Dad-of-four Sandy Muldoon, 30, was out drinking with fire service colleagues when he slipped on ice and fell into the road – in the path of a car. He suffered painful facial injuries, a cracked hip and extensive bruising. But he knows it could have had far worse consequences.
He said: “I am lucky to be alive. I don’t remember much but one of the guys who was with me said I went up in the air. “If I had gone under the wheels of the car, I would have been dead.”
Sandy, a joiner and part-time firefighter, said he wanted to warn others to take care on festive nights out. He said: “Don’t drink excessively, drink in moderation, and, as stupid as it sounds, watch out for cars and be careful on ice. “The partner and kids I love more than anything in the world could be having a rotten time now. I could still be lying in hospital – or dead.”
Sandy lives in Methlick, near Ellon, Aberdeenshire, with his partner Lisa Howie, 29, and children Lewis, 11, Kallum, nine, Aaron, four, and baby Ethan, who is three months old.
He was out drinking with workmates from Grampian Fire and Rescue in Inverurie, Aberdeenshire, when the accident happened. He said: “The pavements were icy. We were walking along and, next thing I know, I was on the deck.” Sandy was treated in hospital but signed himself out. He said: “Lisa was home alone with the kids. She would have been frantic with worry.” He added: “I want to thank everyone who helped me, especially the emergency services and the part-time firefighters who gave me first aid.”
