A 62-YEAR-OLD retired carpenter had a lucky escape just before lunchtime yesterday when a truck came careering into his front garden in Co Mayo.
Apart from a scalding from clumps of nettles, Pat Staunton, who lives beside the N84 Castlebar to Galway city road at Cunnaker, Ballyheane was uninjured.
The driver of the lorry, who is believed to be from Northern Ireland, died at the scene despite efforts by paramedics to save him.
It is thought the man, who worked for Tyrone-based firm PA Blevins Sons, may have had a heart attack.
The truck was lodged at an angle in Mr Staunton’s front garden, just two feet from the gable wall of his cottage.
Mr Staunton explained: “I was clipping my hedge around half twelve. I looked up and saw this articulated lorry coming straight for me. I had to jump into nettles to get out of the way.
“The truck came to a halt about two feet away. Had it been five minutes later I would have been killed as my back would have been turned to the lorry.
“I live with my partner, Helen, on a very dangerous bend. We have always been concerned that something like this would happen.”
The driver received medical attention on Mr Staunton’s lawn but was pronounced dead on admission to Mayo General Hospital about five miles away.
Meanwhile, a toddler was killed when struck by a car outside her home in Ballina, Co Mayo, yesterday. The incident occurred in the town’s Riverside, near the Quays, at about 1.30pm.
It is understood that the two-year-old girl was struck by a car driven by a relative.