Identity Of Hero Lorry Driver Who Saved Toddler's Life Is Revealed

The Sainsbury's lorry driver who stopped to help a toddler wandering alongside the A43 alone and carrying his shoes in the bitter cold has been revealed.

Simon Buzdygan-Neal, 35, was driving down the dual carriageway at 1am on Thursday when he spotted the infant walking by the side of the road.

Buzdygan-Neal immediately slammed on the brakes when he spotted the child, called police and placed the child in his cab, reports the Mirror.

Credit: Supplied

"At first I didn't know what it was," he told the paper.

"I saw something but didn't think anything of it. It was only when I went to move into the second lane and got closer that I realised what it was. I thought to myself: 'Oh my God, that's a child'.

"I put my hazards on and pulled over - I think my lorry frightened him as he started walking towards the island near the slip road."

It repotedly took four hours of door-knocking before the child was reunited with his parents, although when the police arrived he was first taken to a local police station under safeguarding measures.

There have been many calls for the 35 year-old trucker, who himself became a father back in September, to be awarded for his actions, which likely saved the child's life, given the freezing conditions outside.

Credit: Facebook

"It is shocking, the shock hasn't sunk in," he told the Mirror.

"You never expect to see a child on the road. I dread to think what could have happened had I not have found him.

"Had he walked into the front of my lorry, I wouldn't have been able to stop in time. It was freezing so had he got lost, who knows what would have happened?"

Credit: PA

While the events that led to the child wandering alone down a dual carriageway at that hour are still being investigated, Buzdygan-Neal thinks it could just be a matter of the child wandering off through curiosity.

"At that age they know how to unlock doors," he said. "Mistakes happen and I bet they are amazing parents and are probably gutted about it.

"We don't know what happened but it is a wake-up call for me.

"I usually leave the key on the side, but from now on I will hang it up and make sure it is out of reach."

Topics: UK News, sainsbury's, Child

Mischa Pearlmen

Mischa is a freelance journalist usually based in either New York or London. He has written for Kerrang!, Record Collector, NME, the New York Observer and FLOOD magazine, among others. Contact him at [email protected]