A devoted grandfather has been hailed a ‘hero’ after making the ultimate sacrifice to save his wife from a head-on crash with a runaway lorry.
David Lalgee, 64, died following a devastating crash on the M60 near Manchester when a HGV blasted through the central reservation and ploughed into four cars on Thursday evening.
With the out-of-control truck bearing down on him, the former church minister and grandfather-of-nine braked and swerved his Volkswagen iD5 so he took the brunt of the high-speed crash – sparing Jo, his wife of six years, from certain death.
‘David saved my life,’ Jo, 57, told 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 the impact, we rolled several times.
David Lalgee (left) died last week after swerving his car towards an out-of-control lorry so he could take the brunt of the crash – sparing Jo (right), his wife of six years, from certain death
David was a former minister who ran an evangelical church in Blackpool prior to his unfortunate passing
Jo said that her husband, who she met seven years ago, ‘sacrificed his life to save mine’
‘When we came to a stop, all the airbags had gone off, but I thought we were OK.
‘But I could see David and there was blood streaming from his head. I got out of the car, and apart from a couple of broken ribs I was OK.
‘But the car had been completely crushed. It was a miracle.
‘The doctors did everything they could for David, but they couldn’t save him.’
Today other members of David’s family paid tribute to him, saying he died in the way he had led his life – by putting others before himself.
They also launched a GoFundMe page to help cover the costs of his funeral and other expenses resulting from his death.
David’s family paid tribute to the 64-year-old, saying he died in the way he had led his life – by putting other people before himself
The scene of the crash which occurred last Thursday evening as David and Jo were returning to Manchester after visiting family
David’s vehicle collided with a lorry which had blasted through the central reservation of the M60
Footage taken by traffic cameras on Thursday night showed a significant backlog of cars following the crash
Son-in-law Reuben Morley, 35, told MailOnline: ‘David died a hero. It all happened in a split second, but David died in the way he had led his life – by putting other people before himself.’
Police believe the truck driver collided into two cars before breaking through the central reservation and ploughing into two more.
The busy M60 motorway was closed overnight to traffic while officers investigated the fatal accident.
David, who ran an Evangelical church in Blackpool, was returning home to Manchester from visiting family when the accident took place.
He had worked as a road traffic officer for Humberside Police as a young man, before training as a nurse and running a care home for the elderly and disabled while simultaneously looking after his elderly mother.
The couple, who met seven years ago, married in 2019.
David told his wife: ‘OK, here we go,’ as he saw the lorry ploughing towards their vehicle last week
David’s family launched a GoFundMe page to help cover the costs of his funeral and other expenses resulting from his death
Jo, who is also a member of the church, wants to continue his work.
‘I knew David for seven years and he changed my life,’ she said.
‘He gave me the confidence to be the person I am today.
‘So many people have reached out to me to say how he changed their lives too. David would like me to carry on his legacy and care for others.
‘He was an amazing example of an altruistic person, and now my duty is to look after people.’
Reuben, 35, who is married to David’s daughter Tamar, added: ‘David was a fantastic guy.
‘He was grandfather to nine children and they all loved him to bits.
‘Family was everything to him. And he always went out of his way to help people.’
