People ran out of shops and restaurants on Hoe Street when, just before 6 p.m.,they heard the loud bang of an accident involving a number 212 bus and a man riding through traffic on a unicycle.
“I was standing at the till and heard a loud noise. It was a big bang – we thought it was a shotgun or something,” said Sami Ullah, who runs cafe nearby.
The unidentified unicyclist, said to be in his twenties, was trapped under the right front wheel of the bus and his unicycle mangled. He was rushed to a local hospital after rescuers pulled him from under the bus.
The victim was in a critical but stable condition Friday evening, Scotland Yard said.
According to a witness, Robin Jerrom, 34, the man was a familiar sight to many who work and live in the neighborhood. Jerrom described the man as “distinctive,” saying he was often seen riding through the neighborhood on his unicycle wearing a scarf.
The accident occurred at about 6 p.m. The loud noise of the collision and screams from the victim caused shopkeepers and people in nearby cafes and restaurants to rush out, and soon about 50 to 100 people had gathered by the bus.
The first people who arrived at the scene tried to direct the driver to move forward a little so they can free the victim from under the bus, but when the driver was unable to move, the crowd heaved the bus, while others reached for the man underneath and pulled him out.
According to Jerrom, “It was about 5.50pm when I heard a loud bang, and looked out of the window to see someone trapped under the front wheel of a bus. I ran out to help, and could see the bus driver was a little bit shocked and didn’t know what to do… Then more and more people came along to help move the bus, about 40-50 people. Eventually he [the cyclist] managed to crawl out and was in quite a state. It’s not a sight I’m going to forget. It was a very bad injury.”
Rahmo Ahmed, 32, also heard the loud bang of the collision and saw a man trapped beneath a red bus.
“I saw his hand was sticking out and he was screaming for help. He was crying,” Ahmed said.
Stephen Hines, a medical first responder, said he arrived at the scene within minutes, but the crowd had freed the man from under the bus by the time he got to the scene.
He told The Independent, “When I got there the patient was already out from under the bus and members of public said they had freed him by lifting the bus. It was definitely a great help to me as it meant I could start treating him straight away.”
Many expressed amazement at the quick response of bystanders, some of whom left their meals unfinished or abandoned their work to rescue a stranger.
“I’m really amazed at the strength of Walthamstow – no one hesitated to push the bus off, I was in shock. Everyone really came together to help – it was really nice to see that in the face of something so awful,” a witness, Kyra Sam, said told the London Evening Standard.
In a statement released soon after the accident, police said they received a call “at 5.50 p.m. to a bus in collision with a unicyclist in Hoe Street, E17.The male unicyclist was taken by ambulance to an east London hospital where his condition is believed to be serious. The bus – a route 212 – stopped at the scene.”
Walthamstow MP, Stella Creasy, praised bystanders for offering assistance.
“Walthamstow – if you were one of the 100 who helped lift the bus to rescue that poor cyclist. Just thank you. #proudmp #faithinhumanity.”
The Daily Mail reports that two female cyclists, including a specialist physiotherapist, Ms. E Hartsilver, also died in collisions with vehicles on Thursday.